Detroit River CBC on Belle Isle - 01 Jan 2020


Happy New Year! and Happy New Decade! Another year starting out by driving north to Belle Isle Park to assist Allen Chartier with his portion of the Detroit River Christmas Bird Count. This year we agreed to meet at 6:30 am at the bridge just north of Casino Way on the north side of the island.


I arrived a few minutes early and decided to start looking for owls. After dipping on Saw-Whet Owls I played Eastern Screech Owl calls and immediately had 2 birds respond nearby. Despite the dark skies the passing white clouds made it easy for me to spot one bird on an open branch about 30' in from the trail and was able to get some pics using the Sony a7III, 100-400mm f/5.6-6.3 and Godox 860s Flash. Handholding a small mag light allowed me to put enough light on the owl to autofocus w/ the camera. Boom! First birds of the year.




Belle Isle Park, Detroit US-MI (42.3414,-82.9764), Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 1, 2020 6:15 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Allen Chartier and I as part of Detroit River CBC; windy, cold, 20F;
1 species

Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)  2     pair calling from opposite sides of road; photographed one bird from 30' away. Third possible bird called in later but may be one of the first two birds as it was in the same general area;

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S62976291

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

Allen then arrived and we managed to bring one more in, but would count it as one of the 2 I had seen and heard. We would fail to bring any responses to Saw-Whet, Screech or Great Horned Owl calls before meeting Tom Schlack at 8 am at the Nature Center. We did, however, have good luck bringing Winter Wrens into view when we started playing the Great Horned Owl call. I managed a single photo as one individual hopped onto a stump for a fraction of a second.


As the new year was starting I thought it prudent to get a few pics of the sunrise over Belle Isle.





A Common Yellowthroat had been spotted behind the Nature Center the past couple of days, so we started back there to look for it. We initially dipped on it, but Allen and I would find it on a return trip later in the morning; it gave horrible views, however. Blue Jays were abundant, but everything else was scarce; we'd see single White-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, White-throated and American Tree Sparrows, but the feeders weren't filled so birds were scarce. A Cooper's Hawk in the area didn't help.

With temps in the 20's and a stiff breeze on the Detroit River the water was choppy and practically void of waterfowl. We would see large raft of mostly Redhead on one side of the island, and a smaller raft of Canvasback on the other side. Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup and Tundra Swans were also seen in single numbers. Canada Geese were also seen in single numbers + dozens.









As we looped back north around the island we spotted a large flock of Canada Geese in the ball field. Among them were a pair of white-morph Snow Geese and four Cackling Geese. We spent some time photographing the geese before heading back to the Nature Center to find the yellowthroat.






The Heron Pond held a couple dozen Hooded Mergansers and an American Kestrel that provided a few long-distance digiscoped images.


A hike through the woods just south of the Nature Center yielded my first "missed" photo of 2020. A Northern Shrike appeared in front of us in the trees and I could NOT get the camera to focus on it. It flew off before I could a photo. Luckily, Allen got a nice pic or two. A couple of Winter Wrens later we were ready to call it a day. 

As I was heading back around the island to leave I refound the kestrel from earlier. This time I was able to get close enough to photograph it in the tree overhead. A male American Kestrel was perched in the trees across the road.



A nice start to the New Year!

Allen T. Chartier
Inkster, Michigan

Belle Isle Park, Detroit US-MI (42.3414,-82.9764), Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 1, 2020 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Allen Chartier, Tom Schlack and I as part of Detroit River CBC; my tally from morning;
42 species (+1 other taxa)

Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)  2     North side of island next to ball fields;
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  1376
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  17
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)  3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  14
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  350
Redhead (Aythya americana)  1387
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  4
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  29
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  82
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  37
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  37
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  8
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))  9
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  21
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  350
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  190
gull sp. (Larinae sp.)  55
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  7
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  6
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  2
Northern Shrike (Lanius borealis)  1     Appeared along creekside trail in front of us in tree 20' away; Gray bird initially thought to be Northern Mockingbird until Allen verified (with photos) to be a shrike w/ mask below eyeline (differentiating from less-expected Loggerhead Shrike);
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  30
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  7
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  3
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  10
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  3
Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  4     3 birds responded to Great Horned Owl call within the same vicinity; got pics of 1 while the other 2 chatted away across road; 4th bird called from area mile away along creekside trail. All responded to Winter Wren recording (both song and chat calls);
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  13
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  17
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  5
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  4
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  3
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  4
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1     behind Nature Center in phragmites near feeder; responded to recording but only glimpsed as it moved low through the base of the phrase; black mask; greenish warbler.
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S62976849

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