Ontario Field Ornithologists Detroit River and Ojibway Park Outing

By Jeremy Hatt

On January 12, 2020, Kory Renaud and I led an Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) Outing along the Detroit River and Ojibway Park. The main target of the outing is waterfowl and gulls along the upper Detroit River in the morning and passerines and other resident birds at Ojibway in the afternoon.

Many members of ECFNC were in attendance and the outing included stops at Lakeview Park Marina, Little River Corridor Park (and Little River Pollution Control Plant), the Ambassador Bridge, and Ojibway Park. 19 participants joined for the morning and 14 participants continued on into the afternoon. The day started off cold and cloudy but by late morning and into the afternoon, there were periods of sun making birding quite comfortable. Temperatures ranged from -4C in the morning to -1C in the afternoon with winds out of the northwest. In total, we saw 43 species of birds during the outing.

Mild temperatures leading up to January 12^th meant that the waters of Lake St. Clair remained open, so birds were not as concentrated at the Detroit River mouth as they usually are in winter months when the lake is frozen (the Detroit River mouth stays open year-round and is one of the best places for observing waterfowl during the coldest periods of the winter). We still managed to scrounge up some highlights, however, including a male Wood Duck at Lakeview Park Marina, large rafts of Common Mergansers and Canvasbacks, an adult “Kumlien’s” Iceland Gull, and a handful of Bald Eagles on Peche Island.

Our next stop was Little River Corridor Park south of Lakeview Park Marina. We walked along the Little River Pollution Control Plant as well as the trail system within the park. During colder temperatures when Lake St. Clair freezes up, Little River stays open year-round due to the pollution control plant’s warm water effluent. This makes it a great place to find overwintering waterfowl and herons but because of the mild temperatures prior to the outing, Little River had very view birds except for a few Mallards and Hooded Mergansers. We did get to see a Belted Kingfisher flying along the river, however, and an American Robin hanging out with a group of European Starlings was another highlight.

After lunch, we stopped at the Ambassador Bridge to look for the resident Peregrine Falcons that frequent this area year-round. We were not disappointed. Shortly after arriving, we spotted a falcon perched atop the “R” of the Ambassador Bridge sign on the American side of the bridge followed by another flying to a nearby perch on the bridge with a Rock Pigeon in its talons. This ended up being one of the highlights of the outing since we were able to watch the falcon eating its prey in plain sight. Special thanks to Jeremy Bensette for getting it in his scope so everyone could really enjoy the view including a few curious members of the public who happened to be walking by. 

We then took a quick stop at Sprucewood Avenue west of Ojibway Parkway. This industrial area along the Detroit River can be quite birdy and highlights included a flock of 8 White-crowned Sparrows, a group of Wild Turkeys, and another Peregrine Falcon hunting for pigeons. 

Our last stop was Ojibway Park, a favourite winter location for many local birders. Here we enjoyed plenty of White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadees, and Dark-eyed Juncos at the park’s feeders.