Contents of Michigan Birds and Natural History (Volume 16, Number 4)

Here’s an annotated summary of the contents of Volume 16, Number 4 (September-October 2009) of Michigan Birds and Natural History—The Journal of Michigan Audubon:

DR. LAURENCE CHARLES BINFORD: 1935-2009, by Joe Kaplan (pp. 157-158).—A tribute to ornithologist Laurie Binford, who passed away at his longtime summer home in Agate Harbor, Keweenaw County, Michigan, on September 21, 2009, at age 74. Laurie graduated from the University of Michigan in 1957 with a B.S. in zoology before continuing his studies at Louisiana State University, where he earned a doctorate in 1968 for his work on the distribution of the birds of Oaxaca, Mexico.

RECENT BIRD RECORDS FROM THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA, MICHIGAN, by Laurence C. Binford (pp. 159-186).—This article updates Binford’s “Birds of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan” (2006) by providing an annotated listing of “subsequent records and their significance for 229 species, especially in regard to high counts, early dates, late dates, breeding, and vagrancy.”

MICHIGAN BIRD SURVEY, SPRING 2009 (MARCH – MAY), by Jack Reinoehl (pp. 187-223).—A total of 308 species was reported during spring 2009, one less than in 2008. Highlights of the season include Michigan’s first Fish Crow (in Berrien County) and a remarkable tally of 40 Smith’s Longspurs (also in Berrien County). Ross’s Goose, Cattle Egret, and American Avocet were also seen in very unusual numbers. Other excellent finds were White-winged Dove, Black-legged Kittiwake, and multiple White-faced Ibises.

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