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Rouge River Bird Observatory |
March 2006:
20 Mar: This normally wouldn't be news, but given the results of our Winter Bird Population Survey (below), a Tufted Titmouse at the feeders is noteworthy.
19 Mar: Golden-crowned Kinglets have been heard in the area.
14 Mar: A Bald Eagle was seen flying over the Rouge River. The first Eastern Phoebe of the season was found today.
12 Mar: The "dirty" Northern Mockingbird is still at the UAW buildling at Dix and Wyoming, near the Ford Rouge plant. A Rusty Blackbird was in the sunflower fields on the south side of Hubbard and Southfield.
10 Mar: A Snow Bunting at Henry Ford Community College was getting late; our late date is March 12.
8 Mar: Results of the 2005-2006 Winter Bird Population Survey have been posted. We tallied 41 species, a little better than average, during the mid-December through mid-February survey period. Hooded Merganser was a new species for the WBPS, bringing our 14-year cumulative total to 61 species. For the first time, we counted no Tufted Titmice, when the previous mean per visit (one count day) was four. Hard to say what is going on there. A long-term decline in the related Black-capped Chickadee seems to be reversing. The past four years have seen modest increases on the WBPS, with a jump from 7.1 per visit last year to 11.7 this year reflecting the southward push of this species in the eastern U.S. last fall. Meanwhile, American Crow numbers are not recovering from their plummet beginning in 2003 due to West Nile Virus. The mean number seen per survey period prior to that time was 138.7. The mean the last four years has been 8.5. This is the first year we have recorded American Robins every survey day. They stuck around all winter due to the often mild weather and sparse snow cover, plentiful fruit. Over the survey years, there has been an increasing trend of seeing robins on more and more survey days.
If the end of the WBPS period wasn't enough of a hint, Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived, signaling the end of winter and the coming of spring.
February 2006:
20 Feb: Two Turkey Vultures were seen near campus today. This is an early spring arrival date, or may represent birds that have remained in the region over the winter, as some have been reported.
17 Feb: A juvenile Bald Eagle was seen flying north of Ford World Headquarters today. Fox Sparrows have been regular at two Dearborn feeders this winter, including today: one near the TPC Golf Course and the other near Oakwood Hospital.
11 Feb: At least one Northern Flicker has overwintered, as one to three have been recorded regularly on winter surveys. There have been only six sightings of American Crow all winter on campus, all single birds except for one duo. Today's bird, like the others, was a flyover. Three Golden-crowned Kinglets were found again today.
January 2006:
31 Jan: Three Golden-crowned Kinglets were found on today's survey, the first since late December. Brown Creepers, and three Red-breasted Nuthatches were also recorded. The Northern Mockingbird was seen again today.
1 Jan: Results of the Dearborn portion of the Detroit River Christmas Bird Count are posted here. Five new species were added: Cackling Goose (sunflower fields at Hubbard Drive and Southfield), Northern Pintail, American Coot (both at Ford Rouge plant), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (one in west Dearborn, one in east Dearborn), and Field Sparrow (sunflower fields at Hubbard Drive and Southfield). High counts were set for 21 species! Be sure to go over and check out the stats.
December 2005:
26 Dec: An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk has been found during the past week on campus, along with at least one juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Several Yellow-shafted Flickers, a Hermit Thrush, and a large flock of American Robins are feeding on berries in the Natural Area. A female Hooded Merganser was on the Lower Rouge below the Fairlane Estate on the 23rd, a first winter campus record for this species. Also on the 23rd, the Northern Mockingbird was found in the brush dump once again.
11 Dec: The Cackling Goose and at least one Merlin were still at the sunflower fields at Hubbard Drive and Southfield. A Fox Sparrow and a White-crowned Sparrow were at the fields near Ford World Headquarters. A flock of about 50 Red-winged Blackbirds, over a dozen Brown-headed Cowbirds, and two Common Grackles was found at the fields at Schaefer Road. This field is adjacent to the northern end of the Ford Rouge complex, and a very late Turkey Vulture was seen flying over this area. At the boat slip of the complex, among the thousand or so Herring and Ring-billed Gulls, was one Great Black-backed Gull and a Bonaparte's Gull. A juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was near the Ford Centennial library, and two Golden-crowned Kinglets were on campus. In west Dearborn, another Pine Siskin coming to a feeder.
The sooty-looking Northern Mockingbird seen in May at the UAW office on Wyoming and Dix, near the Rouge complex, was seen guarding his berry trees again this weekend.
10 Dec: Not one, but two Merlins were seen today at the sunflower fields at Hubbard Drive and Southfield. Hard to see from the road, there is also a flock of about 150 Canada Geese in the field, with one Cackling Goose among them. This is the first record of Cackling Goose for the city since the species was split from Canada Goose last year. Another Pine Siskin was banded in east Dearborn.
3 Dec: Two Pine Siskins were banded today in east Dearborn.