Erie Shores Birding Association Outing - 29 Mar 1997
29 Mar 1997 Pt. Mouillee Outing
Twelve hardy souls braved the mostly windy, cool Saturday afternoon at Pt. Mouillee for a bird outing that featured low numbers of birds, but some nice sightings! Jerry Jourdan led the small party, which met at 4 pm at the foot of Siegler Rd in the parking lot, out onto the dikes.
The group was immediately greeted by the view of acres of charred land and the smell of gasoline that filled the air, the result of a recent, controlled burning by the DNR. This was an apparent effort to reclaim habitat choked out by cattails and marsh grasses, and to return valuable nutrients back into the soil. The result, we believe, was a fewer number of birds in the area on this windy afternoon.
However, we still managed a successful outing. Most memorable were the sightings of a Common Loon, a Wilson's Snipe, Blue- and Green-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, American Coots, Black Ducks, Double-crested Cormorants, Mute Swans, and a Red-tailed Hawk.
The afternoon was capped by the sighting of (3) Short-eared Owls patrolling the blackened fields, which gave us an excellent view of their prowess.
Thanks to Al Van Daele for the use of his spotting scope, which once again was greatly needed and appreciated!
- Jerry Jourdan
Mar 29, 1997 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Twelve hardy souls braved the mostly windy, cool Saturday afternoon at Pt. Mouillee for a bird outing that featured low numbers of birds, but some nice sightings! Jerry Jourdan led the small party, which met at 4 pm at the foot of Siegler Rd in the parking lot, out onto the dikes. The group was immediately greeted by the view of acres of charred land and the smell of gasoline that filled the air, the result of a recent, controlled burning by the DNR. This was an apparent effort to reclaim habitat choked out by cattails and marsh grasses, and to return valuable nutrients back into the soil. The result, we believe, was a fewer number of birds in the area on this windy afternoon.
13 species
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 6
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 2
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 4
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 2
Redhead (Aythya americana) 6
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 2
American Coot (Fulica americana) 6
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) 1
Common Loon (Gavia immer) 1
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 4
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) 3 3 owls hunting the charred fields of Nelson and Bloody Run Units. Seen by all 12 participants. Scope provided by Al Van Daele
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
