Pt. Mouillee SGA - 28 May 2007

0730 Hrs. After the weekend’s heavy rains the skies were bright and clear this morning, and winds were calm. Parking at the Siegler Rd. entrance I rode the bike out onto the dikes. 

The Nelson Unit was partially plowed but still retained remnants of last year’s corn crop. Little activity there. 

The Long Pond Unit was open and still flooded. A small group of Dunlin was present and feeding in the shallow waters near shore. With the sun shining I spotted a few Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers among them. 

As I scoped the crowd of birds I spotted a resting White-rumped Sandpiper with its head tucked inside its wing. The bird appeared as large as the Dunlin, but lacked any dark belly patch feathers. A small row of chevrons were visible along its sides leading me to suspect something other than the peeps and Dunlin. It wasn’t until it stretched did I spot the slightly downcurved, brownish bill with a reddish base. 

I took several digiscoped images of it and a 30 second video. During the video a significantly smaller Semipalmated Sandpiper could be seen walking in front of it, verifying the size difference. I then took a much longer video of the Dunlin and Semipalmated Plover group. During that sequence a Sandhill Crane could be heard bugling off in the distance of the Nelson/Long Pond area. It was at this point a Common Yellowthroat began singing nearby. 

I thought about pulling out the iBirdPod and trying to lure it within photographing distance, but figured I’d wait until a later time. No sooner had I resigned myself to just hearing it, a lovely male Common Yellowthroat appeared on the phragmites just 20 feet away. I quickly took a few pics of it through the grass/phragmites w/ the D70 and 400mm, and then swung the scope around and raised it to a height about 6” above shoulder length. Standing on tiptoes I managed to capture a couple of sharp, clear shots over the grass. 

After it flew off, I headed out along the dike toward Cell 5. Just before the Vermet Unit I spotted a single Common Moorhen swimming in a small recessed pond. 

The Vermet Unit itself was very quiet. No Whimbrels or Glossy Ibis in view, so I figured they must’ve moved on. 

Out at Cell 5 a small raft of 11 Ruddy Ducks were floating near the mudflats on the southeast corner. Several pairs of Black-crowned Night Herons flew off as rode by. 

The mudflats held a small flock of 30 or so Semipalmated Sandpipers, 3 Dunlin, and a single Spotted Sandpiper.

As I rode off toward Cell 3 I ran into Roger Kuhlman. A pair of Yellow-headed Blackbirds were seen by him out in the Lead Unit just north of the Roberts Rd entrance. 

Riding past several fishermen, I stopped by Cell 3. The mudflats were fairly quiet, but I did spot a single Ruddy Turnstone among the dozen or so Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers and Dunlin. A pair of Semipalms and three Dunlin feeding in a small pond just below the dike made for some nice digiscoped images. 

I didn’t stay long, and decided to go off and look for the blackbirds. I rode down past Cell 2 and found it full of water, but half grown in with Cottonwood saplings about 3 feet tall. I’m guessing that its days as shorebird habitat are long gone.

Riding south toward the Roberts Road exit I scanned the Lead Unit for the Yellow-headed Blackbirds but saw only the ubiquitous Red-wings and American Coots.

Riding back toward the Middle Causeway I ran into Will Weber. Will reported seeing up to 6 Glossy Ibis and a Black-bellied Plover out in the Mouillee Creek Pumphouse area and Vermet Units. We chatted a bit, and enjoyed watching the dozens of Great Egrets and Black Terns flying out toward the middle of the Lead Unit. “Will, your new 88mm Kowa scope is beautiful! – Congrats.”

Heading down the Middle Causeway I did not see the Cattle Egret. As the phragmites gave way to views of open water on either side I spotted the Osprey tower in the middle of the Lead Unit. An adult Osprey flew in and landed on the tower, but not before chasing away a pair of Mallard that were swimming below the tower. My impression was that it wasn’t hunting, but just annoyed that the ducks were too close to its nest(?). 

On the other side of the trail I saw a pair of Glossy Ibis toward the southwest corner. As I rode closer toward the corner, however, the two birds moved off toward the middle of the Vermet Unit. A third Ibis flew off with them, and my flight shots, into the sun, were ruined by a camera that had been inadvertently switched to ‘M’. Everything was washed out.

At this point the morning was waning on, so I headed back to the car and off toward home.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
May 28, 2007 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     After the weekend’s heavy rains the skies were bright and clear this morning, and winds were calm. Parking at the Siegler Rd. entrance I rode the bike out onto the dikes.
18 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  2
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  11
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  1
American Coot (Fulica americana)  6
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)  1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)  21
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)  1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  6
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  38
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  6
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  6
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  28
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)  3     Six birds present. 3 seen. Plegadis ibis w/ dark irises and thin blue skin patch around eyes. Continuing.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  16
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S171532043

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)