More Snowspurs - 21 Feb 2021
After a day of clear skies and cold temperatures the clouds moved in. Robin and I were actually waiting for clouds so that she could work on a photo assignment she had for school. So, with cloudy, overcast skies we headed to Lake Erie Metropark. With her photos taken we then headed by the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge to see if any Snow Buntings and/or Lapland Longspurs were around. After the week’s snowfall the odds were not in our favor...3
However, as we drove slowly through the refuge I spotted bare patches atop the hilllside along the north end of the refuge, and a few tiny birds huddled among the grassses. As Robin waited in the car I slowly crept up the side of the hill to get some pics of the half-dozen Snowspurs foraging against the backdrop of the dark skies.
With the Sony a9 and 200-600 lens the birds required spot focus to isolate them from between blades of grass. Low light required high ISOs, but noise removal took good care of the grainies.
I loved the lighting on these birds this afternoon. The overcast skies really helped reduce harsh shadows. This Dark-eyed Junco was a nice finish to the day.
Detroit River IWR--Refuge Gateway (Humbug Marsh), Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 21, 2021 4:00 PM - 4:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Cloudy, cold, bare patches of open snow on hillsides
3 species
Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) 6
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) 5
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
