Friday before work I made my way to three different birding spots along the Detroit River. It had just snowed a fresh inch and I was very curious to explore around.
Pointe Mouillee
For being my primary objective I did not see very much out here Friday morning other than some haziness, lots of tracks, and a dead mouse. I am still waiting on more Snowy Owls to come through, which I am hoping to see happen with some colder weather arriving this week.
On my way out however a quite remarkable thing happened. Two tree swallows came swooping by, and were even skimming the surface of the snow, like they would if they were feeding off of bugs on the water. I don’t know if they are actually getting anything to eat or not, but I sure hope they are since they should be as far south as just about everyones great aunts right about now.
Elizabeth Park
I was very interested in finally checking out Elizabeth Park after a recent snowfall to see if I could spot any tracks for the red fox I have been searching for. Unfortunately I cannot read them very well, however it appears that some frozen creek beds make for common walkways, whether for the fox or for some stray cats that live on the island.
Elizabeth Park is one of my favorite places to photograph squirrels since there are so many of them, you are bound to find some unique expressions and poses!
On my walk, I also saw (mostly heard) that the red bellied woodpeckers were out in force, as well as some chickadees, cardinals and juncos. I also saw a local bald eagle fly over and there was also a rabbit in the brush which just would not come out for a nice lovely in-the-snow photo session.
Mud Island
A popular spot for birders, Mud Island is part of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and is just off of John Dingell Park. When the river ices up, the island is a popular spot for bald eagles. There was also a flock of canvasback ducks out, with some mallards, geese, a few swans and a buttload of seagulls as well. The channel between the park and the island make for excellent opportunities to get ducks in flight as they move between groups of birds. I hope to get good timelapses of the ice flow moving across the water as well.
