Catching a New Livery

 Before I got home, I decided to make a stop at the airport in case there was anything of interest.

First up was a Cessna Citation.

It was coming in from Punta Gordon.

Kind of a nice looking plane.

Next up was the return of an old friend.

I haven't seen the Royal Jordanian 787 in a while, so it was kind of cool to catch.

I like this livery.

I also had a chance to catch a 757.

But it was in a different livery.

It belongs to New Pacific Airlines.

New Pacific Airlines is a low cost and charter carrier out of Anchorage, Alaska.  They had their first flight in 2023.  They were originally known as Northern Pacific Airlines but they face an injunction from BNSF because they owned the trademark.

They were going to fly from Anchorage to a number of destinations but it is tough to start an airline.  In April of this year, they announced cessation of  all scheduled flights so they could concentrate on their charter service.  I think they are doing charter services for some of the NHL teams.

Clear Skies and Cool Planes

 I realize that I haven't been posting alot lately.  I was going to go to Cleveland on Labor Day weekend for the air show but my mom ended up going in the hospital, so that canceled that.  She is feeling better and is in rehab now, so that's good.  I've also been pretty busy at work and haven't felt like doing much on the weekend but I saw that there was a ship coming down that I haven't seen in a while.  But I had a little time and I saw that a 757 was coming in, so I stopped at the airport first.

This one was kind of a surprise.  It is an A220 and I haven't seen one in a while, so I was happy to catch it.

It was coming in from Raleigh-Durham.

It was followed by an A321 coming in from Boston.  This one has 313 in the tail number, so I guess it's appropriate that it would be coming to Detroit.

I'm not sure what this one is.  I think it is also an A321 but I didn't write down the tail number, so I don't know where it was coming from.

This is a 717 and it was coming in from Charlotte.

An A320 coming from Miami.

Another angle of that plane.

A Cessna 340A coming in from somewhere.

Another 717.

This one was coming in from Newark.

Another A321.  This one was coming in from Orlando.

And the plane I was waiting for.

This was a 757.

It was coming in from Keflavik.

This gives me hope that I might see Hekla someday.

A couple more pictures.

Because I like 757.

A CRJ-900 coming in from Dulles.

And one from Columbus.

And we end with a 737MAX from Baltimore.

A Brief Stop at Bishop Airport

 Bishop Airport is in Flint, Michigan and was first built in 1928 after General Motors board member Arthur Bishop donated 220 acres of his farmland to build the airport.  It is the third busiest airport in Michigan after Detroit and Grand Rapids.

It is serviced commercially by Allegiant Airlines.  American and United have regional connection flights to Chicago O'Hare.  Delta suspended service after COVID and hasn't restarted.

I was at a nearby place to look at some parts but it's parking lot gave me a pretty good view of the airport.  Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone with me, so the pictures aren't the greatest in quality.

A Diamond plane after take off.

This Allegiant A320 was taking off.  It was heading off to St. Petersburg.

This Cessna 172 was doing touch and go landings.

A Pair of Airplanes

 I went down to Detroit because I saw that a favorite of mine was going to be passing and I wanted to catch her.  While I was waiting for the first ship, I saw a couple of planes in the sky.

I heard this one before I saw it.  It had a pretty cool sound.  It is known in the US as a T-6 Texan.  I believe it is called a Harvard in Canada and Great Britain.  It was used as an advanced trainer during World War II and well into the 70s.  It was used by many of the allies of the United States.  I think this one belongs to a group in Windsor.

This is a Cessna 172 that was flying out of Grosse Ile.

A Cessna Flies Overhead

As I was waiting for the next ship, I heard a plane flying by.

The plane is a Cessna 172 owed by the Windsor Flying Club and was flying out of Windsor Airport.

My Continuing Quest for a Kirtland Warbler

 My mom ended up getting me a ticket for one of the kirtland warbler tours that are offered by the Audobon Society.  It was for today but it was fairly early which meant getting up early but that was okay.  I've heard they would pretty much guarantee that I would at least see a warbler.

The guide gave a talk about the Kirtland warbler.  It was called the Kirtland warbler because it was "discovered" by a naturalist with the last name of Kirtland.  He was from Cleveland, OH.  Apparently, the people around Grayling and Mio knew about it before him and gave it the name of firebird or jack pine warbler.  The species almost neared extinction because they have a limited habitat and they were almost decimated by cowbirds.  Cowbirds will use the nests of other birds and will kill those other birds when they are born.  In the 70s, there was a program to grow more jack pines and trap cowbirds.  Because of that, the Kirtland warbler now numbers in the thousands again.

After the talk, we were taken to a spot where we were likely to see some warblers.  As I was waiting to see the bird, I took some pictures of these phlox flowers (I think).

They like to hang around jack pine trees.  The bottom branches are a good spot for a nest.  The jack pine almost approached extinction because it requires a fire to grow new ones.

This Cessna Citation flew over.  I was hoping this wasn't the only flying thing I was going to see.

One the left is a Kirtland warbler.  They have a nice yellow belly and a gray back.  They are a very nice looking bird.  On the right is a sparrow of some sort.  I thought that was a warbler but then I looked a little closer.

So I focused on the warbler.  I wish he were a little closer but alas, that wasn't to be.

Given that these are almost exclusive to Michigan, I think these should be the State bird instead of the robin.

There have been proposals to do just that but the robin is popular.

But I think these look cooler.

Even if they are tiny and hard to see.

I thought this was another warbler but it turns out that it was just another sparrow.

But I liked the pictures because the bird was singing and I thought it looked cool.

I was happy to finally get a decent shot of a Kirtland warbler and now that I know where to look, I hope to get some more.

Catching a Turkish Delight

 Like I said in an earlier post, I decided to go planespotting last night.  It was a nice night and I saw a couple of flights coming in that I haven't caught in a while.

First up was an Alaska Airlines 737 coming in from Seattle.  Unfortunately, it was coming in on the other side and I was shooting into the sun.

Next up was a Spirit A321Neo coming in from Los Angeles.

A Cessna Citation.

But I don't know where it was coming from.

Next up was one of the flights I was looking for.

This is a 787 belonging to Turkish Airlines.

It was coming in from Istanbul.

Which is not Constantinople.

An A320 coming in from Palm Beach.

Followed by an E175 coming from Dulles.

On the other runway was a 737 coming in from Charlotte.  I was hoping it would come in on mine.

A Fed Ex 767 coming in from Memphis.

And my favorite airplane.

this 757 was coming in from Atlanta.

Getting more shots.

And the beam shot.

A United E175 coming in from Newark.

An A320 coming in from somewhere.

The other plane I was hoping to catch.

It was a 777 coming in from Paris.

Since I don't get see 777s that often, I was happy to see it.

Another shot.

And one more.

A 717 coming in from Buffalo.

It's not often I get the upwind and downwind planes in the same shot.

A CRJ-900 coming in from White Plains, NY.

A 717 coming from Charlotte.

And then Pittsburgh.

Another flight that I was looking for.

Icelandair has been flying into Detroit for a while.  They also fly 757s.  They have a 757 that looks like an Aurora.  I was hoping to see that fly into Detroit some day.

But I guess I'll settle for a 737MAX.