2022 Hilites - 30 Dec 2022
2022 is just a day away from coming to an end and its time to look back on the year and relive some the hits (and misses) that defined my birding year. My personal favorite had to be the Gyrfalcon seen at Elizabeth Park in February.
The rest, in some semblance of order:
Snow Goose in January on Belle Isle.
A trip to Joshua Tree National Park in February yielded many nice birds, including this handsome male Costas Hummingbird that was nesting outside our hotel lobby.
Closer to home the incomparable Bobby Irwin found a winter roost of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in nearby Riverview that allowed for a nice study of all of the year classes of a not-so easily seen bird.
A trip to Pt. Mouillee in early April yielded a nice Piping Plover.
Crosswinds Marsh hosted a wonderful Yellow-throated Warbler in April, as well!
A cause for celebration in early May when we found a baby Eastern Screech Owl fledged from our nest box out back of the house.
A trip to Ohio yielded some nice nesting Prothonotary Warblers at Maumee Bay SP.
We made ~7 trips to Cleveland for various art projects this summer, and a side trip to Mentor Marsh yielded some cooperative Sedge Wrens.
Robin and I spent the 4th of July in Nebraska, and day trips to DeSoto NWR and Boyer Chutes NWR yielded many Dickcissels and Orchard Orioles.
Of course, my miss of the year would occur during this time when Justin Labadie (World's Greatest Birder) found North America's first record of a Common Redshank at Pt. Mouillee.
Other misses of the year would include Michigan's first record of a Limpkin that I did not chase, a Prairie Falcon in Macomb(?) County (also not chased), and a frustrating Nelson's Sparrow at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge that I missed by minutes on three consecutive visits.
But, at least I got to see the Black-necked Stilts successfully hatch several chicks in late July.
Late August brought an early retirement gift in the form of a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens. Outstanding image sharpness would be coupled with the need for learning new muscle memory and missing a lot of easy shots.
When it did work I got some nice images of my favorite birds: Rusty Blackbirds at Lake Erie Metropark.
November and December brought an end to a couple of nemesis birds when I was finally able to steal some wonderful images of Little Gull (at LEMP) and Black-legged Kittiwake (at Belle Isle).
An unlikely Long-tailed Duck at DRIWR was a fitting end to a mild December.
Finally, after 38 years as a forensics Microscopist at BASF Corporation I bade farewell to the work force and said hello to retirement. As the year ends it will feel like any normal Holiday vacation, but come January the life event may finally hit me.
In the meantime, thanks are in order for a great 2022 and best wishes are made for happy, healthy and prosperous 2023!
In the meantime, try not to piss anyone off... :)
