The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Rare bird species finds home in Sharon
Hoary Redpoll found feeding near resident's property in township
By Daniel Lai, Editor
PUBLISHED: January 10, 2008
A rare and unique bird has found a new home at the residence of Sharon Township resident Kevin Sharp.
Advertisement
The Hoary Redpoll, a small pale bird of the high Arctic, mostly found in southern Canada and the northern United States, has been spotted periodically feeding from a bird feeder on Sharp's property.
"I haven't seen it lately, but when it was coming, it would come a few times a day," he said.
Sharp said because the bird has not been spotted around southeast Michigan in nearly 10 years, the sighting has made its wayto a couple of local birding Web sites and has caused astir of excitement among area bird watchers.
"I've probably had 100 or more birders come to see it," he said.
Sharp, an avid bird watcher said two species of Redpoll, the Common and the Hoary, are found in Michigan in the winter.
"Both nest much, muchfarther north and venture down only in winter," he said. "Every few years conditions are right and an influx of northern species occur. This is one of those off years."Sharp said even in off years, Common Redpolls are not unheard of to be found in the area.
"Hoary Redpolls are something of a rarity even in the Upper Peninsuladuring winter," he said. "They are rarely expected in the LowerPeninsula and very rare this far south."
Sharp said HoaryRedpolls breed in summer across northern Alaska,Canada, Europe and Asia.
As a bird watcher, Sharp said he was surprised to see the bird on his property.
"I am a birder, so I periodically chase down birds that I hear of being spotted in other areas to see if I can catch a glimpse of them," he said. "It was nice to have one right here without having to go off and find it.
"Normally you would have to go to the Upper Peninsula to find one, and even then, these birds aren't the easiest to track down."
Sharp said upon spotting the bird, he recognized the Redpoll right away with its trademark black chin and red forehead.
"I suspected that's what it was when it flew near our feeder," he said.
Sharp said he has been a bird watcher as far back as he can remember.
"I've done it all my life," he said. "I've always had an interest in birds.
"As a kid, I had a bird feeder and an aunt who bought me a pair of binoculars; she opened up a whole new world to me."
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
