Pt. Mouillee SGA - 13 May 2007
Along the North Causeway I could see Caspian and Forster's Terns roosting out in the mouth of the Huron River, but the winds were already producing a nice chop on the water. The Nelson Unit was quiet: corn fields were somewhat flooded but no bird activity.
As I approached the Long Pond Unit, however, I spotted the first of several Dunlin fly-bys. Although water levels were a bit high in the Long Pond Unit it was filled with hundreds of Dunlin! A quick scan through the crowd yielded a half-dozen Short-billed Dowitchers and a similar amount of Semipalmated Plovers, but little else.
They did not seem to mind my presence, so I was able to approach the bank and digiscope several images from less than 60 feet. Winds made photographing difficult, and cable-releases would have been useless.
I managed several portrait shots of a couple of Dunlin,
and got a few pics of the Short-billed Dowitchers.
The winds calmed long enough for me to set up for a couple of videos of the feeding birds through the scope. Satisfied with enough images for the moment, I decided to continue on along the North Causeway toward the Banana Unit and Cells 5 - 3.
The Vermet Unit was relatively quiet, and it became quickly apparent that most all of the ducks were gone! Only a few Mallard were present, and (4) American Coot and a pair of Pied-billed Grebes.
The woods separating Cells 5 and 4 were noisy with Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, but I did manage to hear a White-crowned Sparrow and a Fox Sparrow singing away in the still-bare trees. A Carolina Wren also made its presence heard.
Cell 4 was empty save for a pair of fisherman in a boat. As I approached Cell 3 I flushed several Black-crowned Night Herons from the Vermet Unit, and saw two pair of Spotted Sandpipers along the rocks, but they proved to be too elusive to photograph. Another small flock of 10-11 Dunlin flew in and commenced to feeding and squabbling.
A pair of Canada Geese with 5 goslings were scampering along the dike ahead of me, and I kept my distance until they had a chance to find a retreat area. The parents flew off, leaving the little ones to run into the rocks for safety. One little guy settled down into the weeds and lay quiet until I passed. I took a shot of it w/ the 400 before quietly moving past and letting them reunite with their parents.
At Cell 3 I could see from a distance that a few shorebirds were present. A small flock of 6 Least Sandpipers were present, as well as (9) Dunlin.
Among them, however, was a single Ruddy Turnstone that proved quite difficult to photograph as it was constantly being harassed by a Killdeer that had nestlings nearby.
After a half-hour or so of digiscoping, I headed back for the Middle Causeway. A fly-by Forster's Tern was close enough to photograph.
At the bottom of the steep hill just west of the dikes I stopped to photograph a small flock of fly-by Double-crested Cormorants (it was only after reviewing the pics did I realize that I caught a lead bird showering the second.... guess it doesn't alway pay to fly in the draft of the lead bird).
As I snapped away at them, a Cattle Egret flushed from the tall grass about 50 yds away. A couple of cirling passes allowed me to get some flight shots before it settled into the grass about 100 yds away. I approached slowly and got a few digiscoped images of it before it flew off into the Lead Unit.
As the phragmites thinned and the Vermet Unit became visible I spotted several Dunlin and a single Pectoral Sandpiper a few yards out from shore on a small mud spit.
As I digiscoped the Pectoral Sandpiper a small flock of 30 or so Dunlin and Least Sandpipers flew into shore at my feet. As they fed away at the shoreline I had to move back to photograph them...
Several Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs flew up and down the dike separating the Long Pond and Vermet Units, and I finally found a somewhat quiet little pond out of the wind where I could leisurely digiscope several SB-Dowitchers and a pair of the whitest Dunlin I ever saw.
Riding back toward the car I stopped at my first location along the Long Pond Unit and scanned the flock of Dunlin and found another Ruddy Turnstone and a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. I attempted to digiscope a female Semipalmated Plover, but a male kept pursuing her in and out of the reeds and wouldn't keep still long enough to photograph. Time to call it quits...
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
May 13, 2007 7:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
8.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear skies, cool temps (45F) and brisk winds made for a challenging morning ride. Siegler Rd. parking lot.
25 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 12
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 12
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 2
American Coot (Fulica americana) 4
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 4
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 6
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 6
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 4
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 2
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 3
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) 2
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 185
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 6
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 1
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 6
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 7
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 6
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 4
Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) 1 Middle Causeway just west of the Banana Unit. Flushed from grass, circled, landed. Photos. Small white egret w/ orange wash on head , yellow bill, yellow feet.
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) 1
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 45
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 12
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
May 13, 2007 7:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
8.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear skies, cool temps (45F) and brisk winds made for a challenging morning ride. Siegler Rd. parking lot.
25 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 12
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 12
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 2
American Coot (Fulica americana) 4
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 4
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 6
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 6
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 4
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 2
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 3
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) 2
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 185
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 6
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 1
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 6
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 7
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 6
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 4
Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) 1 Middle Causeway just west of the Banana Unit. Flushed from grass, circled, landed. Photos. Small white egret w/ orange wash on head , yellow bill, yellow feet.
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) 1
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 45
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 12
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
