Photo of the Week: One World…Under Michigan Stars

Round copper-colored sculpture with insets of blue glass and multiple cutouts sits on a concrete slab, surrounded by grass, silhouetted by bare trees.

You can’t miss the large steel sculpture as you complete the curve on Lakeshore Drive from the U.S. Coast Guard Station on the Detroit River at Belle Isle State Park in Detroit, Michigan.

The copper-colored sculpture with blue glass stands out on a raised slope on the east side of the park, where the lighthouse trail starts.

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Photo of the Week: Northern Shrike, My Nemesis Bird

White-breasted gray bird with black mask perches on bare tree branch.

For the past four years, I’ve been searching for my nemesis birds, the Northern Shrike. And two days before the end of 2021, I finally found it!

Not once, but twice in the same day at two different birding hotspots.

Known as the “Butcher Bird” for its habit of storing food for later by impaling its prey on thorns or sharp fences, the Northern Shrike is a larger gray and white songbird with a characteristic black mask.

A little smaller than the American Robin, the Northern Shrike feeds on small birds, rodents, and large insects.

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Top Bird Sightings for 2021

Small red-eyed gray and white duck with fish in its mouth swims in the blue-green water.

At the end of the year, birders commonly list their top sightings for the year.

And this year was an exciting year for me!

Shorebirds, a raptor enjoying the plentiful cicadas, and an unexpected large wading bird made my list of top bird sightings.

It was hard to rank which bird was more thrilling to find, so I’ve listed my top birds in chronological order.

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