Lots o' Sparrows - 13 Oct 2025
I loaded the eBike into the car and drove down to Wm Sterling State Park in Monroe Co., MI this morning. With clear skies, cool temps (55ºF) and calm winds it was a perfect morning to ride the "Closed" bike trail. I was happy to arrive at the state park and find that the south parking lot was no longer barricaded and was open to cars. Despite the signs I've been told that the bike trail is "unofficially open" even though signs still say "closed".
The marsh was bustling with dozens of Wood Ducks, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon and Gadwall. I scanned the muddy shorelines for shorebirds but only found Killdeer and Great Egrets.
The real activity was all of the White-throated Sparrow flocks that fled the bike trail as I rode the bike. I estimated well over a hundred White-throated Sparrows but had difficulty photographing any of them as they stayed hidden in the trailside vegetation.
I found several small flocks of Swamp Sparrows frolicking in the canals to my right. They were more cooperative though at a distance.
A Song Sparrow or two were among them.
The cattail marsh toward the south end of the park looked like good habitat for migrating sparrows so I spent some time searching the vegetation from the trail. Hoping to find an Ammodramus sp. sparrow I had to settle for more Swamp Sparrows
and White-crowned Sparrows.
I made two entire loops of the bike trail before heading home at 10:30 am. I hope to get back here real soon.
William C. Sterling State Park, Monroe US-MI 41.91861, -83.33542, Monroe, Michigan, US
Oct 13, 2025 7:59 AM - 9:50 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.307 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear, calm, 55F
28 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 4
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 2
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 36
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 6
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 2
American Wigeon (Mareca americana) 8
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 16
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 10
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 11
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 160
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 259
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) 10
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 60
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 18
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 4
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) 4
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 3
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 10
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 6
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 6
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 120 Flocks of dozen or more birds every couple hundred yards along bike path. Count conservative.
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 4
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 36 Dozen each in 3 locations along perimeter of bike path. Canal, cattail marsh, and ditch.
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 260
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Oct 13, 2025 7:59 AM - 9:50 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.307 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear, calm, 55F
28 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 4
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 2
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 36
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 6
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 2
American Wigeon (Mareca americana) 8
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 16
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 10
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 11
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 160
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 259
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) 10
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 60
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 18
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 4
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) 4
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 3
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 10
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 6
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 6
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 120 Flocks of dozen or more birds every couple hundred yards along bike path. Count conservative.
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 4
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 36 Dozen each in 3 locations along perimeter of bike path. Canal, cattail marsh, and ditch.
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 260
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
