Arbor Hills Landfill (Veolia Environmental Services) Arbor Hills Landfill (Onyx, formerly BFI) Arbor Hills Center for Resource Management Salem Township, Washtenaw County ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:50:22 -0500 From: ddarm@umich.edu To: birders@umich.edu Subject: [birders] Salem Landfill no longer open to gull watchers, at least for now. Dear Birders, Recently the Veolia Landfill (formerly Onyx Landfill) site in northeastern Washtenaw County in Salem Township stopped its custom of allowing birders access to the site to observe gulls. Because Washtenaw Audubon Society has a contact there, we asked the contact why this happened and what we could do to change it. Here is the summarized reply: "I have recently heard back from the General Manager of the Veolia landfill, and it appears that at least for now the only birding they will allow will be organized trips scheduled in advance. They became concerned when someone came in without stopping at the scales to identify themselves and "began roaming around...without any concern for their safety." I asked for a second chance, and offered my services, but it appears that one alleged misbehavior has ruined it for us all, at least for now." If this policy continues into next winter, Washtenaw Audubon Society may try to work out a few extra visits as field trips with times established in advance. We would consolidate into the fewest possible vehicles and be on our best behavior (as most visitors to the site have always been). At such time as the site becomes open to birding visitors again, we will work out rules of acceptable access with the operators of the site and publish them on birders and on Bruce Bowman's SE Michigan birding page As always, if you have any interest in birding a site that is not primarily for birdwatching, check out Allen T. Chartier's and Jerry Ziarno's wonderful book, A BIRDERS GUIDE TO MICHIGAN or Bruce Bowman's excellent web page: http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/se_mich/mi_bird.html for access information. If you cannot access any of those, ask on birders@umich. Thanks very much. Dea (PS: Just to be clear, the former Ann Arbor landfill in Pittsfield Township, now the Wheeler Service Center, is still open to visits from birders with some restrictions. If you plan to visit, please see the SE Michigan page referenced above for information on how to bird the site OR wait until June when there will be a field trip on the site led by yours truly.) **************************************************** Deaver D. Armstrong City Ornithologist Natural Area Preservation Field Operations Service Unit Public Services Area City of Ann Arbor 1831 Traver Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105 734-996-3266 **************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- On January 31, 2009, Dan Gertiser posted this unhappy news. Greetings, A couple of weeks ago I stopped by Salem Landfill at lunch to see some gulls. Unfortunately I was told to first stop by the office where I was told that birders were no longer welcome. Rob French who originally got us access here talked to the manager who told him the following: the landfill became concerned when someone came in without stopping at the scales to identify themselves and "began roaming around...without any concern for their safety." They will still allow field trips led by Washtenaw Audubon, but for the moment there are no more visits by individuals. Regards Dan Gertiser Commerce Twp, MI ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arbor Hills Landfill is by far the best place in Washtenaw county for winter gulls. It is in far northeast Washtenaw County in Salem Township. This facility is currently operated by Onyx North America. The landfill is open on Saturdays until noon and is not open at all on Sundays. Landfill hours Monday-Friday: 6:00am to 5:00pm Saturday: 7:00am to noon Sunday: closed Take M-14 east from Ann Arbor and exit at Gotfredson Road. Go north one mile to North Territorial and turn right (east). Go two-thirds of a mile to Napier Road and turn left (north). Go to the landfill, which will be on your left. Continue past the first entrance to the second, and main, entrance at Napier and Six Mile. A sign there says "Arbor Hills Sanitary Landfill." Drive in to the gate and up on the scales, show your binoculars, and say you'd like to go in and look at gulls. Proceed to a road that goes up the hill. There's usually an arrowed sign pointing the way: "<---- Landfill". You can drive slowly up this hill while watching gulls, but do not stop. Stop at the top or at a pull-off if there's one that's well off the road. Do not park your vehicle anywhere where you're close to being in the way. Stay close to your vehicle. Be sure to take a spotting scope with you if you have one. Before going out to the landfill it is best to call ahead for permission to watch gulls. If possible, contact the manager of the landfill, John Perugia, at (248) 349-7230. (For any nonbirding matters call instead the main office in Northville: (248) 305-8377.) Please follow Rob French's guidelines when birding at the landfill. At present, birders are being granted access via the gate on Napier Road at Six Mile. In my capacity as President of Washtenaw Audubon Society I have negotiated with landfill management to preserve access for birders. If we are to continue to be given access it is important that birders visiting this site be careful, courteous, and diplomatic. I would hate to lose access because of some unmindful birders. If you want to go from the Salem Township landfill to Grace Lake, in Wayne County, turn right upon exiting (i.e., south on Napier Rd.) and go two miles to No. Territorial. Take No. Territorial east and get onto M-14 East. Take M-14 to I-275 south. Get off I-275 at Ecorse Rd. (two miles north of I-94). Go west a mile to Haggerty Rd. Go south a mile on Haggerty to Tyler Rd. Turn left and go half a mile. Go just past the entrance to the Visteon facility, turn left into a drive by the white building (cemetery caretaker's building). Watch gulls from the berm. If you miss the Ecorse Rd. exit, continue two miles and exit to I-94 west. Go a mile on I-94 to Haggerty; go north on Haggerty to Tyler Rd. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date sent: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 15:42:20 -0800 (PST) From: Jacco Gelderloos Subject: Gulls @ Salem Landfill, 1/21, 2 p.m. To: birders@umich.edu Send reply to: Jacco Gelderloos Folks, Like Julie Craves I visited the Onyx landfill at the corner of Napier and Six Mile in extreme NE Washtenaw County. Although it was very blustery, I was able to make out the following (besides several 100 Herring and Ring-billed Gulls): 1 adult Glaucous Gull 1 2nd winter Iceland Gull 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull 2-3 adult Great Black-backed Gulls Given the current dumping location, I used the vantage point that Dea Armstrong described in one of her postings earlier this week: after entering the landfill, turn left right away onto the asphalt road leading south up on the easternmost hill. This road will terminate at a point that more or less overlooks the current dumping area (and therefore allows good scope views of the gulls), and it is well clear of the hustle and bustle of the dumptrucks, so interaction with the regular landfill activities is minimal. Be sure to wear several layers of clothing, as it gets really windy up there. Good birding, Jacco ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 22:28:25 EST From: RobertsF To: mich-listers@envirolink.org Subject: Gulls at Arbor Hills Landfill MI Birders: Numerous gull species have been seen recently at the Arbor Hills Landfill (run by BFI) in Washtenaw County. This facility is located in Salem Twp. in extreme NE Washtenaw Cty. On 5 December six species were found, remarkable for an inland county. 3-5,000 gulls were estimated to be present. These were Herring, Ring-billed, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Glaucous, and Iceland. On 6 December five species were seen (same as previous day, minus Iceland Gull). On 9 December these five species were seen again. The following is a list of the ages seen on these days for the six species recently recorded: HEGU (all ages) RBGU (all ages) -- also 1 bird believed to be an albino RBGU (photos taken) GBBG (12-15 adult, 2-3 1st winter) LBBG (1 1st winter, 1 2nd/3rd winter, 2 adult) ICGU (1 1st winter, 1 adult (Kumlien's)) GLGU (1 1st winter, 1 adult) Obviously, this can be a tremendous place to seek unusual gulls in SE Michigan, and it may be the only place in the state, or even the midwest (excepting Niagara), where multiple Lesser Black-backed Gulls can be found. [snip] In addition, a significant number of gulls have been seen outside the landfill in a large open area with ponds along Six Mile east of Ridge Rd. (in Wayne County). [The ponds can be seen from the road, but you can drive in through the main entrance to the development there to gain best access to the ponds. BMB] Rob French Dexter, MI RobertsF@aol.com