Photo of the Week: Migrating Sandhill Cranes

A couple hundred large brown cranes in flight over a harvested cornfield, gray skies in the background.

You would think that the first major cold spell in November, with snow squalls and temperatures in the mid-twenties, would keep most people inside enjoying a hot beverage on a gray, fall cloudy day.

Not me!

I was out searching for Sandhill Cranes browsing the cornfields in southeast Michigan before they migrate south for the winter. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Migrating Sandhill Cranes

Photo of the Week: The Biggest Week of American Birding 2016

Bay-breasted Warbler

With close to 70 people packed six deep on the boardwalk, peering closely into the woods about 20 feet in front of them, you’d wonder what could hold the attention of so many people.

Especially when you discover everyone has braved 10-20 mile per hour cold winds out of the north and west off Lake Erie, along with snow showers in mid-May, to view a brightly-colored tiny animal that could easily fit into the palm of your hand. Continue reading Photo of the Week: The Biggest Week of American Birding 2016

Photo of the Week: Bonaparte’s Gulls at Ford Lake

Two Bonaparte's Gull swimming on Ford Lake

Spring brings thousands of birds through southeastern Michigan, as raptors, songbirds, and waterbirds migrate north to Canada and beyond for their summer breeding season.

And this weekend, spring migration brought through the Bonaparte’s Gull, a small bird that winters along the coastline of Texas, Mississippi, and Mexico, but spends its summer breeding season in the taiga and boreal forest of central and western Canada. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Bonaparte’s Gulls at Ford Lake