At least until a couple of years ago, they were regulars at Howard Marsh
Metropark, near Toledo.
DE
On Sun, Jan 5, 2025 at 9:31 AM Allen Chartier <amazilia3...> wrote:
> Fred,
>
> I too got my "lifer" Yellow-headed Blackbird in 1970, when I was 13 years
> old. I remember it well because it was in my uncle's backyard (he was a
> birder) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was the 300th species on my life list.
> They nested in a large stand of cattails about a mile away with ~100
> breeding pairs.
>
> If you check the range maps in field guides (more credible than Wiki), you
> will see that it is mainly a western species that barely reaches the Great
> Lakes. As others have said, Nayanquing Point has long been the most
> reliable breeding locale for them. There is also a reliable site near
> Escanaba in the UP. They are also sporadic breeders at Pte. Mouillee and
> occasional breeders at Lake St. Clair Metropark and Erie Marsh Preserve.
> There was a site north of Lake St. Clair Metropark where they bred
> occasionally, a sewage lagoon east of I-94 and south of 21 Mile Road.
>
> They nest in extensive cattail stands, so I suspect that the bird you saw
> in St. Clair Shores was a migrant, not a breeding bird (the snow is a clue
> too as most leave northern areas in winter). And also, in my opinion it is
> a stretch to call their grating, buzzing vocalization a "song", but
> technically it is a song.
>
> Allen T. Chartier
> Inkster, Michigan
> Email: <amazilia3...>
> Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mihummingbirdguy/collections/ > Website/Blog: http://mihummingbirdguy.blogspot.com/ >
>
> On Sun, Jan 5, 2025 at 2:27 AM Fred Kaluza <fkaluza...> wrote:
>
>> Back around ‘69 or ‘70, I was a kid in elementary school in St. Clair
>> Shores. One spring day at recess, I ventured to a far corner of the
>> playground…the low-spot where stood a seemingly perennial marsh of muck and
>> old Cattails and melting ice and snow. Perhaps it was during a warm snap
>> or after an unusual weather event but…I recall seeing a bird that was new
>> to me just singing his head off. I mentioned it to my teacher but she
>> seemed more concerned about the mud on my shoes. Anyway…I don’t think I’ve
>> ever seen one again here in Michigan. Wiki shows a map with spotty
>> coverage for them here but…are these regulars at LEMP or Point Mouillee?
>>
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>>
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