Early this week, stories started to trickle in about a flamingo spotted at the mouth of the Au Train River where it enters Au Train Lake.  Initially, we scoffed at the idea, thinking the bird they saw was actually a heron.  But, by golly, the guests were correct!

I did a little research and it looks like it is a Greater Flamingo.  From Wikipedia, I found this description that fits this flamingo perfectly:

"Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black.  The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking."

WLUC TV6 out of Marquette came to the lake this afternoon to do a story for tonight's telecast.  We're hoping the DNR will trap the bird.  We're hoping it gets back home before winter and without injury.  The bird has a band on its leg and the DNR said they might be able to track down the place where it was banded.

On a hunch, I called GarLyn Zoological Park, located on US-2 about 40 minutes west of the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, thinking perhaps they were missing a flamingo.  They said they don't keep flamingos, so we really have no idea how the bird reached Au Train Lake.