Photo of the Week: Ash-throated Flycatcher

A brownish-gray bird with copper-edged wings perches on a woody shrub branch. the bird has a black bill, black eye, whitish breast and long tail.

An unexpected rare bird in the Battle Creek, Michigan area, the Ash-throated Flycatcher, excited the Michigan birding community over the 2024 end-of-year holiday break.

With warmer winter temperatures in the 30’s and 40’s Fahrenheit, and sometimes reaching as high as 50 degrees Fahrenheit, birders throughout Michigan and nearby states trekked to the western Michigan area to view the bird typically found in western and southwest United States.

I was one of the birders making the journey!

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Photo of the Week: Carolina Wren

Small buffy-breasted brown bird with white throat, curved bill, black eye, and bold white eyebrow pauses as it perches on side of gray bird feeder. Blurred green leaves in the background.

A bird I hear frequently, but rarely see as it hides among thick shrub and tree branches, showed up in my yard this week. Not one, but two, chasing each other around the backyard maple tree. And then one flew to a bird feeder where I watched it from my kitchen window. A beautiful singer… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Carolina Wren

Photo of the Week: Whimbrel

Large shorebird with whitish breast, brown back, and long decurved bill, the Whimbrel pauses on the green grass as it foraged for food.

A large brownish shorebird, almost 20 inches long, with a striped head, and dark eyeline, the Whimbrel found its way to the western shore of Lake Erie this week on its migration journey south. Which attracted a lot of birders who have never seen a Whimbrel before, including me! Whimbrels nest in the Arctic in… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Whimbrel