Harley Ensign Memorial Quick facts
| Location | North of Lake St. Clair Metropark |
| Entry Fee | None |
| Target Birds | Snowy Owls, Waterfowl |
| Best Time to Visit | Early mornings in the winter |
| Terrain | Flat 1 mi gravel loop |
| Facilities | Plenty of parking |
| Bite recommendation | Crocker Coffee House – 5 mins away |
This is my first birding trip report, so please cut me some slack!
Trying our luck at the boat launch
It is the 4th of January in the year 2026. It is quite cold out there, and there is snow. By quite cold, I mean around 20° F. Perfect day to go for the hunt for Snowy Owls. From my research, I found out that the Snowy Owls are going to be coming south any moment and on eBird, there are already a lot of sightings, but mostly north of us.
Nevertheless, we wanted to try our luck. “We” is my good friend Patrick and myself.
A good spot for spotting Snowy Owls in Southeast Michigan is the Harley Ensign Memorial near the Lake St. Clair Metropark. Last winter there were nearly daily sightings from early December to mid-January. This year? None at all.
To keep you from waiting for the big reveal: I tricked you! We went out there to see Snowy Owls, but were again disappointed. But there was some positive in this outing:
- We saw a couple of Bald Eagles hanging out just by the boat launch.
- All the waterfowl! From Mergansers and Buffleheads, to Ring-Necked Ducks and Canvasback Ducks.
- I snapped a really nice picture of a freighter with lots of ducks in the foreground.
You can find my ebird checklist here.
Maybe more luck in the Lake St. Clair Metropark?
When you decide to follow me, you will hear a lot about the Lake St. Clair Metropark (short: LSC). I went there a lot of times and I would say it is one of my favorite parks in the metro area. You can find many different species of birds and other animals here. The trails are well maintained and there are a lot of things offered for the non-birder like 3-par golf, a beach area, lots of picnic tables and much more.
Currently, there is a lot of construction in the nature area of the park and they finally are repairing one of the bridges (rebuilding is a better word). The winter months are a rough time for birding. We could still ID 21 different species. The one that got away was a Winter Wren. We learned that a Winter Wren has a nearly identical call as a Song Sparrow. Below are some of my favorite pictures from LSC:
You can find my checklist from LSC here. A more detailed guide for the LSC MP in the winter you can find here: Lake St. Clair Metropark in the Winter: a quick guide for birders.
Now What? Warming up with a hot drink at Crockers.
After such an outing in the cold, I recommend a hot drink. Therefore, we went to the Crocker Coffee House just 5 minutes from the Metropark.
I believe this is a quite new place. They are a combination of bookstore and coffee shop. They have a somewhat fancy interior and really good coffee. Exactly what we needed!
How is your hunt for Snowy Owls going? Leave a comment below!
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