shorebird

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

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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: the Inconspicuous Wilson’s Snipe

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plump brown shorebird with long brown bill and buffy patterns forages for food in the marshy mudflat.

I’ve probably walked by dozens of mudflats with Wilson’s Snipes in them, without realizing I should have lifted my binoculars to my eyes to peruse the piles of mud in search of the shorebird.

While Wilson’s Snipes are considered a widespread shorebird in North America, they can be hard to find.

Why? Continue reading Photo of the Week: the Inconspicuous Wilson’s Snipe

Photo of the Week: Greater Yellowlegs in Late Autumn

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Medium-sized shorebird slowly walks through the grass along the shoreline.

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

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