Despite our back and forth winter weather in southeast Michigan this month (yesterday, we had snow squalls and “feel-like” temperatures of 9 degrees Farenheit, two days ago we had temperatures in the mid-50’s), signs of spring have arrived.
Spring-flowering purple crocuses are blooming, maple buds have burst, and Song Sparrows have returned to our area.
Continue reading Photo of the Week: Song Sparrow, Sign of Spring
What a surprise my friends Donna and Bill had when they learned the small dark duck they saw at a nearby inland lake was a Harlequin Duck.
A sea duck typically seen in northwest North America, Greenland, and eastern Canada, the Harlequin Duck winters along the coast of Atlantic Canada and New England as well as the Pacific Northwest coast.
The Harlequin Duck my friends found is a rare bird for southeast Michigan and the first time the bird was sighted in Washtenaw County.
Continue reading Photo of the Week: Harlequin Duck
On this morning’s Washtenaw Audubon birding hike through Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, we had an interesting encounter with a young Red-tailed Hawk.
One of our group of 20+ folks spotted the hawk from a good distance away, perched on the crossbow of a utility pole adjacent to the trail.
We carefully watched from afar as one of the more advanced birders in the group quickly identified it as a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.
How could they tell so quickly it was a juvenile? And a Red-tailed Hawk?
Continue reading Photo of the Week: Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk