Crosswinds Marsh (Phase I and Phase II) - Wayne County ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date sent: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 15:05:29 -0400 From: Maryse Brouwers Subject: Crosswinds Marsh again To: birders@umich.edu Why this is a fabulous birding spot: 1. It's almost deserted -- this won't last. 2. It's a beautiful place, full of wildflowers and elegant grasses. 3. It's teeming with non-human creatures: fish are jumpin', frogs abound, and Judy, Rose and I have by now seen 53 species, including Caspian Terns, Green Herons, Kingfishers, Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, Bluebirds, Cuckoos, and, best of all, Bald Eagles -- and this a mere half-hour drive from Ann Arbor! Remember that you'll be in full sun, so go early, take sunblock or a hat, and carry water. Directions: From I94, take Belleville Road south through Belleville, and at the large intersection downtown go rightish onto Sumpter Road (as Belleville Road starts to be called there). Continue south for several miles (admire the lawn statuary!) until you get to Oakville-Waltz Road. Turn left, go for a couple more miles, then make a left onto Haggerty (it's a dirt road, easy to miss) and continue to the park entrance. No park entry fee. --- I went to a newer part of Crosswinds that I heard about, that I think was completed about a year ago. It can be reached from Crosswinds by going north on Haggerty to Willow, turn east and go to Carleton-West Rd. and turn south. Carleton-West dead ends into the marsh. There are some signs at Willow and Carleton-West calling it Phase II of the airport mitigation project. This marsh doesn't seem to have any set trails, just some old roads. It is mostly short grass and shallow water to which they've planted hundreds of small trees. Mark Dettling February 9, 2002 --- Cheers, Maryse --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Daryl Aspery" To: birders@umich.edu Subject: Crosswinds Marsh update Date sent: Mon, 27 May 2002 11:20:29 -0400 Crosswinds Marsh offered out a wide variety of species during the month of May. Despite missing some easy May birds I was able to identify 115 species inside the park. The best bird being the King Rail which seems to have moved on. This brings the current list of birds identified in the park to at least 189 and climbing. The current list is located at http://www.geocities.com/daspery/Crosswinds_marsh.html. With the wet conditions and warmer weather finally here I am sure the park will soon be taken over with mosquitoes. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date sent: Thu, 8 May 1997 14:42:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Jane Huggins To: Amazilia@aol.com Copies to: birders@umich.edu Subject: Re: Help! Wetland in Sumpter Twp? Here it is. I got the paper wrong, though. The artical was in the Detroit Free Press, Tuesday May 6. The park is Crosswinds March in western Wayne County's Sumpter Township. It is 1050 acres, including 340 acres of wetlands (one of the largest manmade swamps in the country). It just opened (sounds like Tuesday was the opening). It has 5.4 miles of trails and 1.4 miles of boardwalks over ponds and streams. The paper claims that the marsh is home to 105 species of birds, more than 1000 species of plants and 40 types of mammals. "Crosswinds Marsh is open daily from dawn till dusk. It is south of Metro Airport at Haggerty and Oakville-Waltz Road, west of the Will Carlton exit off I-275. Admission is free. Canoe rentals const $10 for two hours; binocular rentals cost $1." I never heard of binocular rentals myself, but then I guess I never needed them. Anyway, let us know what you find out about it. Its hard to get a good feel for how good a place is from the newspaper even if they do claim 105 species of birds. They list resident birds as bald eagle, rw blackbird, "white egret", and claim that "It's a birdwatchers' paradise." Still, it would be nice to get a birder's opinion. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%% Jane Huggins "In the cross of Christ, justice and mercy come together." janeh@umich.edu -- James Paternoster %%%%%%%%%%%%% http://www.engin.umich.edu/~janeh %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% From: Amazilia@aol.com Date sent: Sun, 11 May 1997 10:52:15 -0400 (EDT) To: birders@umich.edu Subject: Crosswinds Marsh list from 5/10/97 Birders, The Crosswinds Marsh lived up to its name on Saturday, May 10 during our visit for the North American Migration Count. We found 58 species on our 2 hour, 2.5 mile walk. Results of the Wayne Co. count will be posted when all data has been received. My personal list for the day was 95, less than last year's 127, but thanks to the help of more volunteers I had to cover fewer areas this year. I'm sure the county total will be well over 100 species. Crosswinds Marsh, Sumpter Twp., Wayne Co. May 10, 1997 1:30 - 2:30 pm. 55 degrees, wind N @ 25+ mph. Partly sunny. Pied-billed Grebe (1 heard) Double-crested Cormorant (4) Great Blue Heron (3) Great Egret (1) Canada Goose (18) Mallard (10) Turkey Vulture (8, incl. landfill) Red-tailed Hawk (1) Ring-necked Pheasant (2 heard) Spotted Sandpiper (1) Ring-billed Gull (150, incl. landfill) Caspian Tern (1) Black Tern (1) Mourning Dove (2) Chimney Swift (15) Red-bellied Woodpecker (1, Woodpecker Loop!) Northern Flicker (1) Downy Woodpecker (2) Eastern Kingbird (2) Purple Martin (8) Tree Swallow (100) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (20) Bank Swallow (40) Cliff Swallow (2) Barn Swallow (100) Blue Jay (2) Black-capped Chickadee (4) Tufted Titmouse (5) White-breasted Nuthatch (1) House Wren (2) Swainson's Thrush (1) American Robin (15) Gray Catbird (4) Brown Thrasher (1) European Starling (10) Nashville Warbler (7) Yellow Warbler (8) Yellow-rumped Warbler (35) Pine Warbler (1, in pines!) Palm Warbler (6) Black-and-white Warbler (3) Prothonotary Warbler (1 heard, Woodpecker Loop) Common Yellowthroat (2) Northern Cardinal (5) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1) Eastern Towhee (1, Woodpecker Trail, dead end) Chipping Sparrow (2) Field Sparrow (4 heard) Song Sparrow (25) Swamp Sparrow (1 heard) White-throated Sparrow (8) Red-winged Blackbird (50) Eastern Meadowlark (2 heard) Common Grackle (10) Brown-headed Cowbird (10) Baltimore Oriole (4, Woodpecker Loop) American Goldfinch (7) House Sparrow (5) Allen Chartier Inkster, MI amazilia@aol.com From: "Bruce M. Bowman" To: birders@umich.edu Date sent: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 12:28:43 +0000 Subject: Crosswinds Marsh Copies to: "Carl D. Langefeld" Priority: normal Carl Langefeld and I went to Crosswinds Marsh Wetland Interpretive Preserve yesterday morning. Neither of us had been there before. We were impressed; it's a very nice place. The birding wasn't exceptional, but for July 9 it wasn't bad. We had 48 species for the morning. Spring migration birding could be pretty decent there; it does have some woodlands and wet woodlands although the accessible areas are primarily wetlands--ponds and reeded marsh. It looks like it could be very good for waterfowl. In late summer it might be good for shorebirds if water levels drop from where they are now. Crosswinds Marsh is in southwestern Wayne County (Sumpter Township), south and west of Detroit Metro Airport. The entrance is on Haggerty about a quarter mile north from the intersection of Haggerty and Oakville-Waltz Roads. One way to get there is to take I-94 to I-275, take I-275 south, and get off at the Will Carlton exit (Exit #48). From there it's two or three miles west on Oakville-Waltz Road. (Oakville-Waltz is the westward extension of Will Carlton Road.) If you know Washtenaw County well or have a map, you can also get there easily by driving over from south of Ann Arbor (or Ypsilanti). Either way Crosswinds Marsh is about a 30-minute drive from Ann Arbor. An item in a Detroit paper a couple of months ago said that canoes and binoculars can be rented there. We saw no rental facilities. There is no entrance fee for visiting Crosswinds Marsh. Be prepared to do battle with deer flies. There were mosquitoes, too, but fewer. Here are the birds we had July 8 (morning, five hours). Bruce Bowman ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Blue-winged Teal Northern Bobwhite Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Ring-billed Gull Mourning Dove Belted Kingfisher Eastern Wood-Pewee Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Blue Jay American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Eastern Bluebird Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing European Starling Red-eyed Vireo Yellow Warbler Common Yellowthroat Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Song Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole American Goldfinch ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce M. Bowman | In nature there are neither rewards nor Ann Arbor, Michigan USA | punishments -- there are consequences. -bbowman@umich.edu ------ | Robert G. Ingersoll -bmb@biosci.umtri.umich.edu -- ++++++++++ I'M FOR THE BIRDS +++++++++++ Date sent: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 08:41:53 -0500 From: SZABEL@PCI.ALBION.EDU To: mich-listers@envirolink.org Subject: Virginia Rails at Crosswinds Marsh Greetings, I visited the new Crosswinds Marsh in Wayne County last night (August 7). I saw Virginia Rail on the Muskrat Trail near the end of the wooded boardwalk just beyond marker 3 around 8:30 p.m. The rail was moving about in an open area on each side of the boardwalk. I heard another in thicker cover near marker 3. The rails have been present for several weeks in an area right off the trail (5 - 10 feet) between the end of the boardwalk and marker 4. There is also some shorebird habitat off the Blue Gill Trail. Mostly Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Least Sandpipers. There was also a Bald Eagle perched on the Bald Eagle Trail! I also had several nice views of Marsh Wrens in a number of locations. If you are not familiar with Crosswinds Marsh. . . It is a 900 acre marsh that has been created by Detroit Metropolitan Airport to replace marsh habitat that will be destroyed by the airport expansion. It is former marshland that was drained many years ago for farming. The area has several nice trails and boardwalks, interpretive trail markers, and canoe rental. It just opened in May. It is located on Haggerty Road approximately 3/4 mile south of Willow. There are signs that will guide you from I 275 south of I 94, but be advised that northbound I 275 is closed, so you may have to find an alternate route for your return trip (Sumpter Road south of the city of Belleville seems to work well). Skip Zabel szabel@albion.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Daryl Aspery" To: "mich listers" Date sent: Mon, 3 May 2004 21:51:19 -0400 Subject: Crosswinds Marsh - Phase II Directions to Crosswind Marsh Phase 2: Take Interstate 275 South to Will-Carleton Road (Exit #8). Take Will-Carleton Road West 3 1/2 miles to Haggerty Road. Take Haggerty Road 3/4 mile North to Arkona Rd. The Phase II park boundaries are basically: between Haggerty Rd and Clark Rd. North of Arkona Rd and 1/4 mile south of Willow Rd. The best area for parking is at the dead end road leading into the park from the north side off Willow rd. Drive 1/4 mile south to the dead end. There are no designated hiking trails but there are service roads throughout this area. Phase II is mostly marsh with wet and dry grassy meadows. In addition there are several large wood lots that do not contain any trails. The American Bitterns can be heard in the main area of the marsh on the east side of the marsh along the west side of Clark. Two can be heard north of Arkona. The closes one being along the dirt road that runs north and south down the middle of the area buts is blocked off to traffic. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce-- I would actually go south on 23, east on Willis, south on Rawsonville, east on Willow.... Not sure if it's faster, but it's prettier and birdier. --Macklin