Snowy Owl @ Pt. Mouillee! - 15 Feb 2006
1600 Hrs. Very mild afternoon with temps in the upper 40’s and almost no wind. Its mostly cloudy with light breaks in the clouds, but generally very overcast.
I drove out to Campau Rd and the HQ of Pt. Moo to scope the river and lake. An adult Coopers Hawk greeted me as I arrived at the HQ and gave quite nice looks on Campau Rd. Tundra Swans and Mute Swans were out there by the 100’s, and the Tundra Swans were very vocal!
Speaking of vocal, I was hearing the House Finches singing outside the house before I left!
Also out on the lake was a large raft of 100-150 American Coots, followed by very large rafts of Redheads, Mallards, Black Ducks, Gadwalls, Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Canvasbacks, and hundreds of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls.
Across the river to the Siegler Rd dike I spotted a Northern Harrier (female) cruising the grasslands. Up in the trees and off into the distance of the Vermet Unit I saw a pair of Bald Eagles up in the trees.
I then drove down Turnpike Rd toward the Robert’s Rd exit as I wanted to walk up the middle causeway along Mouillee Creek. Construction had the bridge out over the creek, so I stopped the car on the roadside and hiked up past the construction zone to the trail. A pair of horseback riders were up ahead but little else. Snow was all but gone, and the ponds were almost completely thawed. Holes in the ice were being used by Muskrats that were out feeding on the ice.
As I walked up the muddy trail I hear the first of many Red-winged Blackbirds. They were high in the tops of the tallest trees and didn’t start singing until the sun was almost down.
I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk and another Bald Eagle (4 for the day) and an American Kestrel in the top of a tree about a ½ mile away. I was carrying the scope on my backpack, and was walking with a new Manfrotto Monopod and the Sigma 400mm. Loaded down! A person walking a mother and puppy Black Labs passes by and I get to look at the gorgeous dogs.
As I walked past the Walpatich Unit to my left a very large white bird flew off in front of me from the ditch below. Thinking it was a large immature gull I put my binoculars on it and immediately discover it to be a SNOWY OWL!!!
I quickly fired off several shots of it as it flew across the Walpatich Unit and landed on the W dike of the Bloody Run Unit where it joins the Lead Unit.
As soon as it landed on the dike several gulls took notice and were soon swooping down and harassing it. I felt bad for flushing it, but soon got over it as I realized that it would give me time to pursue it. I took a short-cut along a low trail and quickly found it to be very soft mud so I was working hard carrying all the gear and trying to get to the dike. The Snowy stayed put, all the while ducking and watching the gulls fly overhead.
A number of Canada Geese and Mute Swans in the pond behind the owl made a lot of noise and several birds flew off.
I got to the junction of Bloody Run and Lead Units and took several pics with both the camera and digiscoping equipment (Zeiss 85T*FL and Canon A620).
The Snowy Owl was aware of my presence but remained calm, ignoring me for several minutes at a time, and only turning my way every few minutes. This gave me time to approach within about 50 yards and set up the digiscoping camera for time-delay images (1/30 sec, f/3.5, 3 second delay, 6-shot continuous).
The light was quickly disappearing as it was now near 5:30 pm so I approached to within 30 yds and decided I was close enough to get some final images before leaving it alone.
Just then the swans and geese took off in a flurry and scared the Snowy Owl off the dike where it flew northward along the Bloody Run dike and landed several hundred yards away. It settled back down on the dike and relaxed.
I watched it for a few minutes through the scope, and then happily headed back toward the car. What a gorgeous bird! I then drove down to MCCC to listen to Bob Pettit’s talk on shorebirds. This I believe is the farthest south a Snowy has been reported this year.
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Feb 15, 2006 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: . Very mild afternoon with temps in the upper 40’s and almost no wind. Its mostly cloudy with light breaks in the clouds, but generally very overcast.
19 species
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 50
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 50
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 6
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 12
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 6
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 2
Redhead (Aythya americana) 12
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 2
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 12
American Coot (Fulica americana) 100 up to 150
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 50
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 50
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 1
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 4
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) 1 As I walked past the Walpatch Unit to my left a very large white bird flew off in front of me from the ditch below. Thinking it was a large immature gull I put my binoculars on it and immediately discover it to be a SNOWY OWL!!!
I quickly fire off several shots of it as it flies across the Walpatch Unit and lands on the dike of Bloody Run unit where it joins the Lead Unit.
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 2 singing
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
