Detroit River Christmas Bird Count - 01 Jan 2026

 

Happy New Year! 2025 was an effort on so many levels. As 2026 arrived the hope for a better year was on everyone's mind. 

My year would start with an alarm at 4 am and a drive to Belle Isle State Park for the Detroit River Christmas Bird Count. Skies were clear and temperatures were hovering around 12ªF with a wind that put real-feels near 0ºF. Two inches of snow were on the ground and another fresh 1.5" fell overnight. Luckily the freeway was clear and traffic nonexistent as I arrived on Belle Isle shortly before 5 am. I was to meet with Allen Chartier, Leah Stafford, and Robert Moll at 5:30 am at the Nature Center to start the year w/ some owling.

I arrived at 4:50 am and found barrels across the bridge leading to Belle Isle. They would be removed at 5 am but Security allowed my drive around them and continue on toward the Nature Center. I stopped at the NE side of the island to try for some owls under a full moon and a bone-chilling breeze that rattled the flag pole nearby. A play-back of Saw-Whet Owl was responded with a single "Toot-Toot" but I could not verify that I heard it, so I didn't record. I dipped on Eastern Screech Owl calls, so I headed to the Nature Center where Leah and Robert were waiting for Allen to arrive.

By 5:30 am Allen had arrived and we set out on foot toward the woods near the Nature Center. The first bird of the new year arrived in the form of an Eastern Screech Owl calling as we heard its monotone tremolo at a distance. Leah spotted one fly in next to the road but we couldn't put light on it before it disappeared. Another would call nearby and I would serenade it without being able to see it before it flew off. 

I spotted a presumed Great Horned Owl fly in briefly before quickly disappearing from a tree top that messed up our morning hunt; we did not want to play Saw-Whet or Screech Owl playback with a Great Horned Owl nearby, so we continued to walk as a pair of Great Horned Owls began serenading each other loud enough for Allen to get a recording. In the process we heard an alarm call from a nearby Saw-Whet Owl! We would pick up 3 Saw-Whet Owls (2 alarm calls and a vocalization call from 3 different locations) this morning to go along with the pair of Great Horned Owls and 8 Eastern Screech Owls.

We finally got an Eastern Screech Owl to fly in close enough to photograph. Leah would direct us to a branch where we were able to view and photograph it under dark skies and flashlights. 

Though I started with 2 fresh batteries in my camera I suddenly got "Exhausted Battery" warnings that prompted a quick battery change while the owl was calling 20' away. I got the pics just in time for the new battery to go bad.

Belle Isle, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 1, 2026 5:32 AM - 7:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.446 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Owling for the Detroit River CBC. All miles on foot. Birding with Jerry Jourdan, Richard Moll, Leah Stafford.
4 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  2
Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)  8     1 seen, 7 more heard.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)  2     Heard. A pair duetting. Audio obtained.
Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)  3     4 different vocalization types from 3 widely separated areas. All responding to playback. Detroit River CBC.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S291817235

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

Sunrise came so we headed back to the Nature Center. Along the way we heard our first Winter Wren of the day along with American Tree Sparrow and Northern Cardinal.

Allen, Leah and Robert at first light.

At stop at the Nature Center feeders produced Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, American Tree Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, House Sparrow, and a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow that eBird wanted photos (my camera was dead). 

After dropping cameras and flashlights in the cars we headed back out through the woods behind the Nature Center. Flocks of American Tree Sparrows foraging just a few feet in front of us made me quickly regret having no camera. Even worse was the 2-dozen American Robins foraging in bushes all around us; they were giving vibes of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" but Leah and Allen were getting nice photos of them in morning sunlight.

We'd find a pair of Hermit Thrushes and a female Eastern Towhee along with several Winter Wrens, more White-throated Sparrows, Northern Cardinals and a pair of Carolina Wrens.

Belle Isle, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 1, 2026 7:30 AM - 10:31 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.952 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Birding for the Detroit River CBC. All miles on foot. Birding with Jerry Jourdan and Leah Stafford.
28 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  6
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  37
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  34
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  1
Larus sp. (Larus sp.)  4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  4     Ads
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  4
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  12
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  22
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  6
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  2
Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  5     3 seen and heard simultaneously in one area along Nashua Creek. Two others at opposite ends of Central Avenue.
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  23
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  19
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  55
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  3
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  3
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  70
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  12
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  1     Immature at Nature Center feeders. Brown crown stripes and orange orangeish bill. Photo by Leah to be added later.
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  17
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  7
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  7
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  1     Female. Photos
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  34

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S291817407

Once back at the parking lot I was anxious to see if warming the batteries would revive the camera. It did!

A few test shots on fly-by Canada Geese confirmed that I was back in the photography business.

The Detroit River was mostly frozen except for small patches of open water. Dozens of Mute Swans were swimming in the open water while Tundra Swans slept on ice edges. Dozens more Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser and Hooded Mergansers were swimming near the Belle Isle Bridge while hundreds of Redhead and Canvasback were tightly packed in a raft nearby. Canada Geese were sleeping on the ice by the hundreds while hundreds more were counted on shore at the south end of the island. We didn't spend much time looking through the scopes as the wind and cold were freezing our digits; props to the Detroit Polar Bear Club as they were getting ready for their New Year swim in the river.

Belle Isle, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 1, 2026 10:33 AM - 12:21 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.895 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Driving around the perimeter of the island for the Detroit River CBC. Birding with Jerry Jourdan and Leah Stafford.
22 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  1450
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  78
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)  42
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  72
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  558
Redhead (Aythya americana)  710
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  2
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  14
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  11
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  191
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  61
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  90
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))  6
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  15
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  3
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  3
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  18
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  1     Male
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S291817126

We'd end the day at Lighthouse Point looking for roosting Long-eared Owls, but dipped. Luckily, more American Robins were feeding in berry bushes lining the woodlot. I'd finally get a nice photo or two of our most cooperative birds of the day.

Thanks to Allen and Leah for allowing me to tag along this morning. Happy New Year! I'd get home in time to see my first yard bird of the year; Dark-eyed Junco.

Belle Isle, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 1, 2026 12:22 PM - 1:08 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.074 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Birding the Ralph Wilson Trail for the Detroit River CBC. All miles on foot. Birding with Jerry Jourdan and Leah Stafford.
12 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  65
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))  24
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  21
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  52
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  6
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  5
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S291817005