Virginia Rail @ Pt. Mouillee - 23 Jun 07

I arrived at the Mouillee Creek entrance this morning to look for some digiscoping opportunities. Sightings earlier this week included: Glossy and White-faced Ibis, Franklin's Gulls, Black-bellied Plover and Laughing Gulls. 

Not particular about what I'd find I started out up the Middle Causeway and soon found a small flock of fledgling Tree Swallows roosting in a bare snag across the canal to the north. The rising sun was just appearing, and the birds were illuminated just enough to get some images with both the D70/Sigma 400 

and the Zeiss 85/Coolpix P5000. 

The P5000 focuses somewhat slow but very accurate, and I'm pleased with its performance. For one thing color balance is spot on - I find I do not have to post-process color balance in Photoshop.

The fledgling swallows appeared content to wait for mom and dad to arrive with snacks and jostled amongst themselves once food arrived. A couple of pics later and I was off.

A pair of Swamp Sparrows were singing in the Nelson Unit and several Marsh Wrens were singing in the cattails where the Lotus marsh appeared. Just before the Pumphouse a Black-crowned Night Heron was perched on a fallen tree and gave me some nice pics from about 65 feet.

At the SW corner of the Vermet Unit fellow birder Dennis K. and I spotted (7) Glossy Ibis, (1) Black-bellied Plover, and numerous Forster's Terns and Ring-billed Gulls. No Laughing Gulls were spotted out on the sand spit, but other birds like Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal were present, along with American Coots and Common Moorhen. Dennis continued on up the Middle Causeway while I headed north toward the Huron River and Cell 5.

I spent better part of an hour watching a small group of Bonaparte's Gulls among a large flock of Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. One bird in particular gave me fits trying to verify its identity. About the same size as the second year Bonaparte's this one had brown primary wing projections that stood out against the black wingtips of its fellow Bonaparte's. Also slightly vexing was the lack of a visible white eye-crescent, giving it a darker-eyed appearance. The ear-patch was not evident, so w/o a field-guide I had to suspect a possible Little Gull or something other than a Bonaparte's. Watching it fly, however, it did not have the dark underwing coloration of a Little Gull, and the half-cap convinced me later that it was probably a second year Bonaparte's Gull still in mid-molt. Still, it was fun studying!

Out at Cell 3 a single dark-capped bird appeared to be a Franklin's Gull, but flew off before I could verify. A single Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage was feeding just off shore. 

This and a half-dozen other LY's suggest that the fall migration south may be starting (?).

As I returned toward the Middle Causeway, a Baltimore Oriole flew past and landed in the phragmites. It stayed long enough for me to get a hand-full of digiscoped images from about 40 feet.

Traveling west on the Middle Causeway I came across a pair of Killdeer actively protecting a nearby nest. One bird approached me and stood its ground for a few moments before running off and feigning a broken wing. 

Both birds put on quite a display for me as I slowly walked and looked for an exposed nest. Not seeing it I left the pair as soon as I could.

A single Osprey was on the platform out in the Lead Unit, but no chicks were visible. Several pairs of Black Terns and Caspian Terns flew overhead, while several more were spotted out over the Lead Unit. A scan of the Vermet Unit yielded no Ibis, so they must've moved.

Along the Nelson Unit I spotted an Indigo Bunting atop some phragmites, and got some digiscoped images from about 60 feet away. They are impossible to approach.

At approximately 9:30 am, as I was returning to the car, I stopped at the Lotus marsh and decided to stop for a moment to look for Marsh Wrens. No sooner had I stopped did I hear the 'kick-kiddick-kiddick' of a Virginia Rail. Not expecting to see it I pointed my scope and binoculars across the canal toward the sound. Just then it appeared at the base of the cattails, peering out over the lily pads. It looked around for a few moments, then proceeded to venture out into the open, walking toward me and affording me some of the best looks of a gorgeous bird I'll ever have in my lifetime. 

It then flew to my side of the canal and landed on a log next to the bank, where I could only get a glimpse of it through grass. 

After a few moments of looking around, it flew back across the canal, and returned to its roost, where it continue to call for the next 15 minutes. 

Satisfied that I wouldn't see it again, I headed back to the car. There, I met Don Brooks and gave him directions (successfully, I hope) to where I had seen the rail.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 23, 2007 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
22 species

Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  1
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  1
Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)  1
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  6
American Coot (Fulica americana)  6
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  1
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  6
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  12
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  6
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  6
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  6
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  2
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  1
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)  7     SW corner of Vermet Unit. Continuing birds. light-blue skin patch with thin white line that ends at eyes (brown eyes). Adult birds.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  12
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  2
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S41948163

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