Photo of the Week: Red-tailed Hawk

brown and white hawk perched on the end of bare branch, blue sky in background.

After a week of gray cloudy skies followed by two days of freezing cold weather and snow flurries, it was wonderful to wake up this morning to clear blue skies and a bright shining sun.

Which meant I spent most of my day birdwatching, looking for:

  • Whooping Crane (found it!)
  • Golden Eagle (no luck)
  • Migrating waterfowl
  • Sandhill Cranes (hundreds!)
  • Birds that overwinter in Michigan

I had a successful day! Continue reading Photo of the Week: Red-tailed Hawk

Photo of the Week: Spotted Redshank, Rare Bird in Michigan

large shorebird with orange bill and reddish-orange legs wading through mudflat

The birding community in Michigan and beyond is abuzz with the news that a rare sandpiper for North America was seen this weekend in southeast Michigan.

I should know, I’m as excited as everyone else who heard about it!

Along with hundreds of other birdwatchers, I made the journey early this morning to Washtenaw County in search of the reddish-legged Spotted Redshank.

Isn’t it a beauty? Continue reading Photo of the Week: Spotted Redshank, Rare Bird in Michigan

Photo of the Week: Iron Ore Miners Mural in Ishpeming, Michigan

three iron ore miners, two standing, one kneeling, inside iron ore mine.

Birdwatching takes me to lots of different places, national forests, wildlife areas, and some of the smallest towns in the Midwest.

Which I enjoy, because I love going through towns and discovering the unique architecture of their older buildings, churches, libraries, and courthouses.

This month my travels took me to Ishpeming, Michigan, a small town in the western part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

And what I found didn’t disappoint. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Iron Ore Miners Mural in Ishpeming, Michigan