Detroit River Waterfowl - 25 Jan 2008


Cold but sunny today. I grabbed the gear and ran down to the river during lunch to check the the ice flows. 

Stopping at the foot of Perry Pl. I spotted a pair of Common Mergansers in the open water next to shore. A male Goldeneye appeared next to shore and quickly hightailed it out of there the moment it saw me. 

Next stop: boat dock at the foot of Clinton Rd. The group of Mallard was in its usual location waiting for handouts. 


Among them, however, was a nice drake American Black Duck that made a nice subject for the 400mm with a 1.4x teleconverter. 


Farther out in the open water a pair of Common Goldeneye were swimming by. The purple sheen on the normally 'green' head of one male Goldeneye provided proof that one should not base ID's solely on color: from a distance it could be mistaken for a Barrow's Goldeneye. 


Another American Black Duck male swimming by gave me a nice portrait shot. A few moments later a pair of Canvasbacks drifted by with their heads tucked under their wings. 


Before leaving I caught a female Common Merganser taking off. With the 1.4TC it was difficult to track the bird while keeping focus, and eventually I lost the focus lock. Time to go back to work.



Wyandotte Boat Launch, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 25, 2008 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.2 mile(s)
5 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  6
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  2
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  2
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  3
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168228028

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Returning after work the late afternoon sun really brought out the blue in the ice, and I found this group of Mallard resting close by. 


A female flying by gave me chance to capture a nice flight sequence. This image is a composite of three frames that shows just how pretty a female Mallard can look. 


Stopping down at the foot of St. John's a small patch of open water hosted a group of Mallard and a single Redhead. 


As I photographed this pair of birds another Mallard flew in for a landing. 


Wyandotte Boat Launch, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 25, 2008 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
2 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  8
Redhead (Aythya americana)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168228253

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Proceeding northward toward the foot of Southfield I found most of the ducks farther out toward the middle of the river. But a few minutes later a fly-by pair of Canvasback gave me more flight practice. Those blood-red eyes remind me of Darth Vader everytime! 


Great Black-backed Gulls were a bit scarce today, but one bird soared high over the trees of Mud Island. I took several images of it flying at a distance, but found none of them noteworthy. A Ring-bill Gull flew directly overhead and provided much more interest. 



Before calling it a day an adult Bald Eagle appeared soaring over the river, and flight shots were taken, but again too far to be of any interest.

Dingell Park (formally Ecorse Park), Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 25, 2008 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
4 species

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168228471

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)