Bob,

I had planned to reply to this earlier.

You wrote, in part:

>>>They can usually be found in the eastern UP of Michigan in Chippewa
>>>County, but their numbers seem to fluctuate there a lot too from what I
>>>have ever been able to tell. The most reliabe place for them is the
>>>Muniscong Bay WMA east of Rudyard, but they're certainly not a guarantee.
>>>I was up there in late May every year between from 2000-2005, and I think
>>>I found them every year but one or two. One year (I forget which one now)
>>>there seemed to be a big influx of them and could be found in fallow
>>>fields all over the area including Centerline Rd. of Snowy Owl fame in
>>>the winter. Of course those birds are sporadic singers and maybe I just
>>>overlooked them on some visits or the weather wasn't good, but they
>>>really do seem unpredictable. If someone has access to records of when
>>>they occur in Ohio in good numbers, it would be interesting to see what
>>>their breeding distribution was that year. Are Ohio LeConte's coming from
>>>due N in Michigan? Maybe there's no realationship at all between their
>>>breeding range and migration movements. Who knows?<<<

I am acquainted with a Michigan bander who has been working with the Le
Conte's Sparrows at Munuscong Bay for several years. As far as I know, very
few (if any) researchers are working with this species. Just this year, one
of the sparrows he'd previously banded was recaptured, which was the first
recapture ever for this species. This shows how little has been done so far.
I would suggest that to answer the question of whether the Leconte's
Sparrows at Funk Bottoms are coming from Michigan is for some Ohio bander to
attempt to capture as many as possible in that area, and any other "hotspot"
for the species in the state.

Allen Chartier
[log in to unmask]
1442 West River Park Drive
Inkster, MI  48141
Website: http://www.amazilia.net
Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet
===============================================
Every day, the hummingbird eats its own weight in food.
You may wonder how it weighs the food. It doesn't.
It just eats another hummingbird.
---Steven Wright

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