A Nice Trip Home from Work - 25 Feb 2021
The Sun was shining this afternoon (very briefly) so I decided to swing by the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge on the way home from work. Temps have been in the 50's the past couple of days, so the snow has melted. Would any Snow Buntings or Lapland Longspurs still be hanging around?
No. But I did see a small flock of Horned Larks next to the pond near the Visitor Center. Heat shimmer was a problem, so only a couple of pics were had from the car window.
A loop around the parking lot and out toward the exit yielded a pair of American Crows. Too bad the lighting was less than optimal for photographing black birds...
Feb 25, 2021 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear, sunny
2 species
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 2
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) 6
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
A check of the burm on the way out yielded no snowspurs, so I continued on south to Campau Rd to check out the Pt. Mouillee HQ. A melting canal held a pair of diving Canvasback and Redhead ducks (both drakes), so I was able to get some nice photos from inside the car w/o disturbing them. The Sun popping on them against the yellow backdrop of trees was a nice touch.
Ice is still clinging to the Huron River out to Lake Erie, but patches were open next to shore. Unfortunately the rafts of Cans, Reds, and Mallard were out in open water near Pt. Mouillee's North Causeway.
As I left the HQ I stopped near the bridge where the Canvasback and Redhead were seen and looked for them again. The Canvasback was gone, and the Redhead had now swum under the road and was now on the south side where it was backlit against the lowering Sun and ice sheets.
I was going to drive to Robert's Road but a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was perched on the wires to my right near Riverside Park so I turned around to get some pics from the roadside. It flew up the road, and a few poles later I was able to get a couple more pics before leaving it to head home.
Pte. Mouillee SGA--HQ, Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 25, 2021 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
4 species
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 60
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 101
Redhead (Aythya americana) 51
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
