birding

Photo of the Week: Short-eared Owl in Monroe County

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Brown and buff-colored owl with short ear tufts and flat face on a round head perched on a fence post. The bird is looking to the left in profile.

Ask a birder about finding owls, and their advice will be to go out at dawn or dusk. Or the middle of the night to hear the owls calling.

But not if you’re looking for Short-eared Owls.

Which are one of the few owls active during the day and night, especially during breeding season.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Short-eared Owl in Monroe County

Photo of the Week: Least Bittern

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A small black, brown, and white heron hunches over wet rocks along the shoreline as it hunts for fish. The bird has long yellow-green legs and bright yellow eye. In the background is the clear blue water of Lake Erie.

An unexpected find for this late in the year, the Least Bittern continues to delight southeast Michigan birders as it hunts for food along the Lake Erie shoreline.

I’ve seen Least Bitterns before, a small black and brown heron with long yellow legs and toes and what looks like white racing stripes on its body.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Least Bittern

Get Answers to Your Bird Migration Questions

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Screenshot of Cornell Migration Celebration home page highlighting their site navigation with a large image of a Blue-winged Teal, a brown and white patterned waterbird with its wings outstretched. The patch of blue on the wing can be seen along wit the characteristic white crescent moon shape behind its bill.

Thanks to Cornell Labs two-week online Migration Celebration, I learned a lot this year about bird migration.

  • While many birds make migration one long trip, some birds fly and stop somewhere for a few days before beginning their journey again
  • With the Canada wildfires in summer 2023, some people are wondering if eBird reports will detect early migration for birds where their breeding grounds in Canada burned down.
  • Some birds can take advantage of burned areas: Black-backed Woodpeckers and Three-toed Woodpeckers use burned stumps for nesting. With beetles taking over the burned stumps, woodpeckers have a ready food source.
Continue reading Get Answers to Your Bird Migration Questions

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