My 2025 Year in Review - 28 Dec 2025

 

As 2025 draws to a close I needed to go back and relive some highlights that made this an extraordinary year for me. Some of my accomplishments were out of this world, so I wanted to include them, as well.

My birding year started January 2nd with a Northern Shrike on Port Sunlight road in Monroe.

Short-eared Owls put on a show at the Antenna Farm during the winter months. This one was captured mid-January.

A trip to Hawaii in February finally got me a bucket-list bird in the form of White Terns (formerly Fairy Tern). Surprisingly from the balcony of our hotel in downtown Honolulu.

My first outing at Pt. Mouillee did not occur until mid-March. It did not disappoint as a beautiful drake Long-tailed Duck was found well south of Lake Huron and posed for photos next to shore in Cell 4.

2025 saw my initiation into "serious" astrophotography. January and February were spent attempting to photograph deep space objects (DSO) using my Sony a1 + 100-400mm lens on a small tracking mount (iOptron Sky Guider Pro) but finding targets in the night sky was impossible because I lacked the ability to plate-solve stars in the night sky in my Bortle 7-8 skies. So I purchased a "Smart Telescope" that automatically polar-aligned, plate-solved, and could find invisible targets in the night sky. The ZWO Seestar S50 (~2500mm EFL), a small, coffee-maker sized telescope allowed me to capture my first DSOs including this image of Orion and the Running Man Nebulae in March.

I would (I can't believe I'm saying this) sell one of my Sony a1 + 100-400mm lens to help purchase a true telescope/mount/camera setup that would give me a more traditional astrophotography kit. It would not disappoint. I consumed every YouTube video on astrophotography I could find, and even managed to learn processing to generate Hubble Palette images, like this one of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

I've created a blog of my astrophotography work entitled The Brownton Observatory to document my progress and achievements.

A mid-April trip to Drummond Island in the UP gave me access to courting Merlins.

The end of April brought the first migrating warblers to Magee Marsh, and even this cold, windy morning didn't disappoint. Black-throated Green Warbler.

Early May would bring spring migration, birding festivals, and the opportunity to chase avian butterflies at Magee Marsh like Prothonotary Warbler,

American Redstart,

and Cape May Warbler.

Perhaps the best bird of the bunch was this Cerulean Warbler that was found near home at the Humbug Marsh Unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge on 06 May 2025.

A trip to Petersburg SGA gave me Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers, and gorgeous views of a Parula Warbler:

Rare bird sightings at the end of May included this Western Kingbird at Pt. Mouillee that eluded me during several "chases". I finally saw it with the help of others.

Rural birding through Monroe County gave me Red-headed Woodpeckers, and the Merlin App helped me find my first Yellow-throated Vireos in the county (though I could never see them in the canopy).

June 1st brought perhaps the most epic day of rarities at Pt. Mouillee SGA of the year when the Bad Creek Unit produced a pair of Hudsonian Godwits, Glossy and White-faced Ibis, a pair of Black-necked Stilts, an Eurasian Wigeon and a Wilson's Phalarope. 

Cell 3 produced a Marbled Godwit ta'boot!

Cell 3 at Pt. Mouillee would continue to be the hot bed of rarities during the summer months. Large, expansive mudflats were treacherous all summer long, but the open water at the south end of the cell attracted some great birds. Whimbrel, Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Western Sandpipers would be reported there, as well as several pair of nesting Black-necked Stilts during the summer months (as many as 10 stilts would be monitored during the summer months that included several young).

I would also be there to see as many as 52 Stilt Sandpipers, 16 American Avocets, 40 Black Terns, and 24 Long-billed Dowitchers at times during July and August.

An Arctic Tern was found by Justin Labadie on 09 Jun 2025 and I was able to re-find and photodocument it a day later.

A massive heat dome at the end of July made me re-evaluate my transportation mode at Pt. Mouillee. A couple of days of heat stroke and massive drop in blood pressure finally persuaded me to purchase an eBike (from my old neighbor) that allowed me to cover more area in the fraction of the time, but also at the fraction of effort; it was perhaps the best investment of the year. 

The west side of Cell 2 at Pt. Mouillee also became quite productive during the summer months as dredge-pumping produced nesting sites for the Black-necked Stilts, as well as attracting hundreds of migrating peeps, dowitchers and ducks. Below is a pic of Short-billed Dowitcher and Stilt Sandpiper.

August arrived and a new hot spot formed at Pt. Mouillee in the form of the Lautenschlager Unit. Expansive mudflats along the eastern portion of the unit attracted hundreds of migrating shorebirds including Piping Plover,

American Avocet,

Red-necked Phalarope,

juvenile Black-necked Stilts,

migrating Stilt Sandpipers,

Coyote,

Hudsonian Godwit,

and Peregrine Falcon.

With September coming, Pt. Mouillee set to close for hunting season, and shorebird season winding down the chase began for Buff-breasted Sandpipers. Luckily, one was reported in Cell 3 on 25 Aug by Magda Z. (Ontario) so I was there first thing on the 26th. Perfect lighting and curiosity brought the young Buffy to within 30 ft. of my location on the mudflats. Two more Buff-breasted Sandpipers would be seen on 30 Aug 2025.

This Whimbrel on the Middle Causeway at Pt. Mouillee would be my last "official" shorebird for the season.

September would arrive and bring eyes to the sky! Another season of Detroit River Hawk Watch would commence on the 1st, and by 30 November we would reach 150,000 raptors for the season and double last year's tally. Broad-winged Hawks (~52,000) would rebound from a dismal 2024 season (7500) to bolster our numbers.

Turkey Vultures would dominate the count again this year with 90,859 tallied.

When conditions were ripe we had nice fly-by raptors. Bald Eagle,

Red-tailed Hawk,

Rough-legged Hawk,

Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, Red-shouldered Hawk, and over 50 Golden Eagles!

Closer to the ground the Fall Migration of Warblers and passerines did not disappoint. September brought an influx of Red-breasted Nuthatches to SE Michigan.

Elizabeth Park in Trenton produced some nice migrants in the form of Canada Warbler,

Black-and-White Warbler,

Nashville Warbler,

Northern Parula,

Philadelphia Vireo,

Winter Wren,

and Yellow-rumped Warbler (just to name a few).

Lake Erie Metropark gave me 2-dozen Wilson's Snipe on 23 Sep 2025.

The DRIWR Humbug Marsh Unit produced some nice birds including Red-headed Woodpecker and Brown Creeper. 

Having learned that parts of Pt. Mouillee SGA were open to the public during hunting season allowed me to find a lifer Nelson's Sparrow in the Bad Creek Unit in mid-October. 

The "Golden" days of October brought some wonderful pics from Elizabeth Park, DRIWR, and Lake Erie Metropark. Blue Jay, 

Red-tailed Hawk,

Golden-crowned Kinglet,

and Rusty Blackbird.

November brought a Purple Sandpiper to Sterling State Park in Monroe Co., 

Snow Buntings and Lesser Black-backed Gulls to the Woodtick Peninsula in the extreme s. portion of Monroe Co., 

and American Pipits (24) to the Monguagon Delta at the Humbug Marsh Unit of the DRIWR.

A late-November owling survey allowed me to test photographing Eastern Screech Owls using just a headlamp and flashlight. It worked very well!

December 1st brought a flock of several hundred Snow Buntings and a few dozen Lapland Longspurs to the Antenna Farm in Monroe. They were gone by the next day.

A pair of Harlequin Ducks were reported on 05 Dec 2025 at Sterling State Park while I was up north celebrating my birthday with Robin. A trip to the state park on the 6th would leave me skunked on the Harlequins, but I would see an American Pipit.

I would see the Harlequin Ducks the next day, though.

This flock of 79 American White Pelicans were seen in the warm water discharge canal of the DTE Energy Monroe Power Plant on 20 Dec 2025 during the Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count. 

The pelican population in SE Michigan did well this year. Up to 800 birds were seen several times at Erie Marsh, the Woodtick Peninsula nearby, and on Lake Erie during hawk watch season. Their numbers in the Great Lakes appear to be holding stable / rising.

With only a couple days left in the year I don't know if I'll be able to get out. Heavy rain is falling today and is supposed to switch to dangerously high winds and falling temperatures tomorrow and Tuesday, so outings will be at a premium for the remainder. In the meantime I wish you all the best for 2025 and may 2026 hold you in the light.

The Elite Dangerous Nebula