Snowspurs! - 14 Feb 2021
With thanks to the Wayne Co. What's App folks a flock of Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs have been hanging out near the parking lots at the Humbug Marsh unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The Sun was shining so I decided to take the Sony a9 and 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens out to the refuge to see if I could relocate the birds. I'll admit that its been 10+ years since I've been witness to a good flock of Lapland Longspurs, so I was excited to potentially find some in Wayne Co.
Parking near the entrance to the Visitor's Center I walked along the path next to the woods and headed toward the fishing pier. A small flock of Song Sparrows were foraging in a ditch so I stopped long enough to test focus / exposure on the camera. Spot focusing helped here.
The fishing pier had a nice view of open stretches of the Detroit River that was mostly ice-covered. Mute (possibly Tundra) Swans were sleeping along the edge of the ice sheets and rafts of Canvasbacks were huddled together far out. As I walked back I noticed the heron rookery to the north of the unit while a half-dozen Great Blue Herons roosted on the ice in the shallow portion of the river.
The fence line along the north side of the refuge held some nice mats of grape vine that might be tempting for a roosting Saw-whet Owl. I would only see a single Song Sparrow, however.
As I neared the stop sign the hill side to my right showed exposed mud, dirt and grasses as a contrast to the snow-covered landscape. In it was a two, three, five and suddenly two dozen Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs that were partially obscured and camouflaged. Score!
I managed to approach close enough to get a variety of images throughout the zoom range of the lens, and even at an EFL ~1200mm when in crop mode on the camera
The birds were skittish, and tended to flush repeatedly. But they circled, flew off, then returned to the same spot where I could continue to photograph them.
The Snow Buntings tended to be a little more gregarious while the Lapland Longspurs tended to stay huddled in the grasses. Still, I managed a few pics of one bird that wandered close enough for some portrait pics.
Shout-out to the good folks at Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge for creating habitat suitable for flocks of Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs that are a treasured site in SE Michigan during winter.
Detroit River IWR--Refuge Gateway (Humbug Marsh), Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 14, 2021 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
6 species
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 30
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 250
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 6
Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) 12 Side of hill along north end of refuge where exposed ground shown through snow. Flock of Snowspurs numbered almost 40. Photos.
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) 24
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 6 4 in Phragmites near parking lot. 2 more along fence at north end of refuge. Not rare...
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
I would leave the refuge and head back north toward Elizabeth Park. A Cooper's Hawk flew into the trees to my left after missing a flock of European Starlings. It was severely backlit and in the shadows, so I settled for a B&W image from across the street.
Happy Bird-day, Dad!
Elizabeth Park (Trenton), Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 14, 2021 11:30 AM
Protocol: Incidental
2 species
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 12
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
