Photo of the Week: Watching Broad-winged Hawks Growing Up

Young Broad-wing hawk with fuzzy white down sits on a nest of twigs and dead leaves.

When you walk down the shady paved trail along the Huron River, you can hear water rushing by, the sound of Indigo Buntings singing in the distance, and muffled conversations of couples as they stroll down the trail.

Unless you listen carefully, you might not recognize the sounds of a family far above you, about 75 feet up, in the forest canopy.

A family that’s taken over an abandoned squirrel nest in the forks of a mature cottonwood tree. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Watching Broad-winged Hawks Growing Up

Photo of the Week: Northern Bobwhite

rusty brown speckled bird with white face, black throat perches on railroad track.

The first time I saw a Northern Bobwhite was in March 2017, on a cold wintry evening at dusk, as I slowly drove an icy road in eastern Washtenaw County. Returning from a successful day of birding to see the unexpected first time state observation of the Ivory Gull in Flint, Michigan, I was searching… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Northern Bobwhite

Photo of the Week: Common Gallinule

gray and brown marsh bird wades along the edge of the Lake Erie marsh looking for food.

Check out those green legs of the Common Gallinule! It’s been over 20 years since I saw my first Common Gallinule, but I’ve only seen their long green legs in the past two years. The unexpected leg color always makes me smile. I remember the first time I saw a Common Gallinule, in the mid… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Common Gallinule