Photo of the Week: Singing Dickcissel

Brown and gray bird with yellow breast and rusty shoulders perched on a fence post.

The black V on the throat against the yellow breast stood out for me when I saw the sparrow-sized bird singing away on the fence.

The male Dickcissel with the rust-colored shoulders always makes me smile when I see it in summer, because I typically only find it when I hear it singing.

Dickcissels are one of Michigan’s grassland birds, along with Savannah Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Bobolinks. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Singing Dickcissel

Photo of the Week: Wilson’s Phalarope at Lake Erie Metropark

Brown and white shorebird with long black bill partially hidden in the tall, wet green grasses.

Along with dozens of other birders in southeast Michigan and beyond, I traveled to Lake Erie Metropark in Brownstown Township, Michigan in late May to look for the slender Wilson’s Phalarope, a rare shorebird for Wayne County, Michigan.

Smaller and more slender than a Killdeer, the Wilson’s Phalarope has a needle-thin black bill, cinnamon colored neck, white breast, broad black strip on the gray back, with lanky black legs during breeding season. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Wilson’s Phalarope at Lake Erie Metropark

Photo of the Week: Mississippi Kite, an Unexpected Visitor in Southeast Michigan

Gray slender raptor with white patches on dark gray wings with dark eye patch perches on tree snag.

News spread quickly in the southeast Michigan community this week when a Mississippi Kite was sighted at a local birding hotspot. Typically seen in south-central United States, the slender, gray raptor seems to be enjoying meals of cicadas in the nature preserve. And attracting birdwatchers from all over the state, including me, who are traveling… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Mississippi Kite, an Unexpected Visitor in Southeast Michigan