Snow Buntings and Larkspurs - 01 Dec 2025

 

After leaving Lake Erie Metropark yesterday afternoon I swung by Campau Road to look for a Rough-legged Hawk reported yesterday by Justin Labadie. I would not see it. Consolation prizes included a distant Red-tailed Hawk and a Mink running across the frozen channel next to the gates of the Pt. Mouillee Headquarters.

I then drove south to Haggerman Road to see if anyone was camping out (yet) for Short-eared Owls. None have been reported so far, but I was on my way home and would give it a shot albeit still early in the afternoon (3 pm).

As I approached the fence line surrounding the Antennae Farm I spotted a large flock of passerines in the field south of Haggerman Road. I suspected Snow Buntings only because of how much white I was seeing 100 yds away.

A few photo attempts from inside the car proved useless; convection currents from the warm car disabled the autofocus of the camera and prevented any sharp images from being captures. So I left the car and walked up the road several hundred feet to photograph the flock of mainly Snow Buntings and scattered Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks.

The flock was constantly moving and would only set down for moments at a time before flushing and scattering in all directions. 

A small flock of mainly Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs were in the plowed field and flew close enough for a few fly-by flight shots.

Welcome December!

Antenna Farm, Monroe, Michigan, US
Dec 1, 2025 3:09 PM - 3:24 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Overcast, hazy, 32F, Calm.
3 species

Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)  100
Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)  50
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  270     Large flock in field s of Haggerman across from Antennae Farm.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S286971515

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)