When I saw the pair of Bald Eagles standing on the frozen ice of the marsh at Lake Erie Metropark, it looked to me the birds were in deep discussion.
I first saw the eagles flying low over the treetops and when they disappeared from sight, I suspected they might have landed on the ice.
I drove toward the open marsh, passing a flock of about 150 American Robins foraging berries in the dense shrubs lining the road.
Continue reading Photo of the Week: Bald Eagles on the Frozen Ice
On one of the last warm days of November in southeast Michigan, the Greater Yellowlegs feeding in the shallow waters of Washago Pond at Willow Metropark was a pleasant surprise for me this weekend.
And when I reported my sighting of the bird on eBird, it was flagged as a rare find for this time of the year.
I visited the pond because another birder reported finding a Cackling Goose, which I found as well.
Along with about 300 Canada Geese, almost two dozen Mallards, a couple Hooded Mergansers, and another surprise this late in the season: Yellow-rumped Warblers.
But I wasn’t expecting to find any shorebirds. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Greater Yellowlegs in Late Autumn
Hard to believe 2020 marks the third year of October Big Day, a global 24-hour event for birdwatchers around the world to watch and report all the birds they’ve seen.
This year had an added bonus for October Big Day, this weekend was also the first Global Bird Weekend.
I’ve participated every year and was happy it didn’t rain this year like it did for my first October Big Day in 2018.
Word has spread about the fun you can have birding!
The first year, over 13,000 people participated. In 2019, more than 20,000 people participated in Global Big Day.
And for 2020, I joined almost 29,000 people in submitting 66,843 checklists of 6,799 species (as of October 18, 2020 at 6:30pm Eastern Time). Continue reading Photo of the Week: Third Annual October Big Day of Birding