A seabird typically found along North American ocean shores has made the Detroit River shipping channel its home for the past two weeks.
Which has delighted birders, nature lovers, and photographers in our area, including me!
I found the rare Black-legged Kittiwake quickly as it foraged for food in a small cove east of the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on the south side of Belle Isle State Park in Detroit, Michigan.
The small white and black gull didn’t seem phased by all the people staring at it through binoculars and long camera lenses.
Black-legged Kittiwakes breed in the far north in dense colonies on sea cliffs and islands.
Their migration south for winter usually takes them to the western shore of the Atlantic Ocean and eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.
It’s rare, but not uncommon, for a Black-legged Kittiwake to migrate through the Great Lakes.
I’m the first to admit I’m terrible at gull identification, but I had no problem identifying the kittiwake in the water with its black markings on the nape and ear.
It seemed pretty happy in its location as I saw it eating several fish over 15 minutes of observing it.
Checking eBird for records for our county, I discovered the first Black-legged Kittiwake record for our county on eBird was reported in November 1991.
Along the Detroit River.
Have you ever seen a Black-legged Kittiwake?
