Where'd everything go? - 09 Jan 2010


A sunny Saturday morning brought me out to look for waterfowl on the Detroit River. I drove to the foot of St. John's, and then over to the foot of Southfield, but found no ducks on the river. Gone! The lack of ice on the river didn't help. I figured they were farther south, down near Lake Erie Metropark. So I decided to head that way.

I took a drive down Campau Rd. toward Pt. Mouillee HQ. The entrance gate was empty except for a single Cardinal. The Huron River was frozen and waterfowl were absent. Only a handful of Ring-billed Gulls were roosting on the ice near Riverside Park. The only open water was a tiny hole in the ice near shore, and a pair of American Coot were occupying it. I pulled up just as one coot was climbing out of the water onto the ice. I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph the great big feet of this pretty bird. After a few minutes of wrestling w/ a chunk of clams the little coot wandered back into the water.


Pte. Mouillee SGA--HQ, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 9, 2010 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Huron River frozen
3 species

American Coot (Fulica americana)  2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S165465160

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

From there I drove down Roberts Rd. to Rheaume Rd and back toward US-Turnpike Rd. Nothing.

Back to Lake Erie Metropark, where the lady at the entrance booth informed me of Bald Eagles at Cove Point. So I drove over there and found? - Nothing. I then drove over to the Marshland Museum. I stopped in to talk to Jane Van Kirk for a few minutes. I then went looking for Long-eared Owls, and found none. A walk through the nature trails yielded only a handful of Northern Cardinals and a couple of White-throated Sparrows. Otherwise, nothing.


Just a slow day of birding...

Lake Erie Metropark--Marshlands Nature Center, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 9, 2010 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
2 species

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S165465528

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