Downriver Waterfowl Survey - 18 Jan 2026

With temperatures expected to plummet today and the following 3 days I took a run down to the foot of Southfield Road in Ecorse to check on Detroit River waterfowl. Skies were cloudy, temperature was -10ºC (14ºF), and light snow was falling. The river was mostly frozen along the shoreline with ice flows in the main channel. 

Canada Geese were the bird of the day here with over 800 counted in large roosts on the edge of the ice and along the Mud Island shoreline. A scattered number Great Blue Herons were tucked on the north side of Mud Island while a pair of Bald Eagles were perched in the branches overhead.

While counting geese I heard a Peregrine Falcon screaming / squealing nearby and thought that it had just taken a duck as prey. But when I went looking for it I saw nothing. It turned out to be a recording that the city installed to keep the geese out of the park. Scared the sh*t out of me...

John D. Dingell Park, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 18, 2026 8:50 AM - 9:05 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.072 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, cold, 14F, calm, light flurries. River mostly frozen.
10 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  850
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  4
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  60
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  8
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  2
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  8
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  3
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294922559

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

I then headed to the south end of the park where there was open water. John Dingell Park now has a Kayak Launch installed at the south end and it was a nice location to view some of the waterfowl (Mute Swans, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Canvasback, Mallard) that were congregating farther downstream along the shoreline.

Out in the channel south of Mud Island I found several massive rafts of Canvasback / Redhead stretched for a quarter mile with a large number of Mute Swans among them. With nothing close enough to photograph I just made scope counts.

John Dingell Kayak Launch, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 18, 2026 9:10 AM - 9:27 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, cold, 14F, light flurries. River open along s end of Dingell Park Kayak Launch. Large rafts of Redhead/Canvasback stretched across mikee portion of river between/on ice flows.
14 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  17
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  218
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)  8
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  28
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  2600
Redhead (Aythya americana)  2309
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  12
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  16
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  46
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  16
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))  14
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  24
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294928692

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

Driving south along Biddle Avenue I came upon John Dingell Boat Launch (new to me). Here I was able to park and walk to the launch and get some photos of the Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, Mute Swans and Canvasback that were congregating out of camera reach, earlier.

I then drove down to Wyandotte Boat Launch - nothing.

A stop at Bishop Park yielded only a half-dozen Mallard near shore, but a number of ducks in the channel at the foot of Grosse Isle.

Bishop Park, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 18, 2026 10:00 AM - 10:05 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, cold, 14F, snowing. River mostly frozen w ice flows.
10 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  8
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  120
Redhead (Aythya americana)  130
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  2
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  60
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  14
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  2
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  4
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294939211

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

A stop at the Seaway Boat Club yielded no ducks or gulls.

A stop at Elizabeth Park was fruitless, as well. No gulls were on the river.

My last stop was the Humbug Marsh Unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. Driving through I found a large congregation of ducks swimming south of the fishing pier, so I stopped and took the scope down to the pier to get some counts of the hundreds of Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye.

This Muskrat was eating on the edge of the ice under the pier and allowed some pics from above.

Detroit River IWR--Refuge Gateway (Humbug Marsh), Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 18, 2026 10:35 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.167 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, windy, flurries, 14F. River mostly open. Frozen along shoreline and bays.
9 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  450
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  350
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  8
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  35
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  360
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  8
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  318
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  9
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  44     Exact count. Shoreline opp of Humbug Marina.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294954254

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