Some Fall Firsts - 12 Oct 2025
An Orange-crowned Warbler (Bobby Irwin) report was enough to get me off the couch this morning to run down to the Humbug Marsh Unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge for a quick walk. Skies were clear, temperature was 56ºF, and a light breeze was blowing from the N. I did not see the Orange-crowned Warbler despite running into several small flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers high overhead in the trees along the Detroit River shoreline. The boardwalk area was quiet so I spent a few minutes scanning the Monguagon Delta shoreline. Four Killdeer were on the mudflats and several Song Sparrows were sunning themselves on the cattails. A scan of the phragmites revealed a first White-crowned Sparrow of the fall. I walked the north trail toward the west side of the refuge and found a bare tree with four American Robins , a half-dozen Cedar Waxwings , and four Yellow-rumped Warblers . A single Rusty Blackbird was perched nearby and represented another fall first for me. I had h...
