As I pulled into the parking lot at the Harley Ensign Boat Launch in Harrison Township, I saw the man in a suit pointing up to a pine tree as his female companion looked on.
I quickly parked the car, grabbed my binoculars, and camera and walked toward them.
I knew those gestures.
The sign of an avid birder who traveled to this odd hotspot of birding activity in southeastern Michigan.
The 200-foot point into Lake St. Clair regularly attracts rare birds, like the Mountain Bluebird enjoying sumac berries on the point during December.
Typically the bluebird lives in and around the Rocky Mountains, and travels to the Texas area during winter migration.
No one knows how the bluebird found its way to Michigan in December, thousands of miles from where it usually is found in winter.
I slowly approached the couple and asked, “Did you find the Northern Saw-whet Owl?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“It’s about 10 feet above the ground, about one o’clock, hidden in the pine needles. He’s hard to see, with the sunlight behind him.”
I cocked my head, squinting into the early afternoon sun.
Where was he? Was it that pine branch?
What about that dark shadow, next to the branch?
Sure enough, he was well hidden in the pine tree.
I found the shadow, moved to my left and to my right, trying to get a better look at him.
The Northern Saw-whet Owl is a very small owl, a little bigger than the Downy Woodpecker, smaller than an American Robin.
I managed to get a couple shots of him and saw him open his eyes.
What a treat to see my first Northern Saw-whet Owl!
