Best birding day ever part #3.......

(Be sure to check out the sandpipers in post #1)

These are the last of the birding shots from the waster water treatment place in Muskegon, Michigan.  It was a fabulous place to visit and I would love to go back in the spring or fall when there might be even more variety of birds.

Another Red-tailed Hawk on a pole.  We saw at least 4 the day we were there.  I imagine it is good feeding grounds with all the other birds and the rodents that would be attracted by the landfill and water treatment.

 The landfill at the end of the lagoons was attracting a lot of vultures and gulls.  Both seem to like what they find there....yuck.

 Not an attractive bird, but I'm always fascinated by them.  

I think if I was drawing "the Grim Reaper" I would give it this face.

 Three deer that spotted us about the same time we spotted them.

 A Painted Turtle.  I never get to see them this close at home.  This one was crossing our road, so I got out to help him out of the way.  I like the red designs you can see around the edge of the shell.  It looks like someone took a paint brush and put them there.....no wonder they call it a Painted Turtle!

A woodpecker way up on one of the poles.

 This is the area where they add chemicals and aerate the water to remove solids.....don't think about that too closely.  We actually saw a guy empty his truck at one spot....yuck, and double yuck.

The gulls don't seem to mind the filthy water or the aeration process.  Sort of like a storm at sea.

The next area had low water and an island had formed where some ducks and sandpipers were sitting.

Next to all of this is an area of rectangular low areas that sometimes have water in them.  They were dry while we were there and you could see the white minerals that had leeched out of the water all over the dry ground.  This is where they see herons and egrets when there is water.  We saw one at a great distance and one fly overhead.

A nice little water hole, but no birds today.

Since this wasn't very long, I added this video I took of the waders.