Wilson's Phalarope @ Pt. Mouillee - 22 Jul 2007

Sunday afternoon after returning from Antrim Co. I headed down to Pt. Mouillee to look for Stilt Sandpipers. Arriving at the Mouillee Creek entrance at ~4pm I rode the Middle Causeway up to the Vermet and Lead Units. Lesser Yellowlegs were still plentiful, but things were relatively quiet in the Vermet Unit. Scanning the Lead Unit was difficult with the late afternoon sun backlighting. Continuing on to Cell 3 I ran into Skip Zabel, who was reporting that he had seen up to 20 Stilt Sandpipers, 1 Baird's Sandpiper, and a Wilson's Phalarope. Setting up the scope I soon spotted the birds and began to move a bit closer to attempt some digiscoped images. The Wilson's Phalarope flew into feed along the nearby shore, and took several dozen images from about 50 yds away. A Least Sandpiper flew in and stopped to preen and hack up a bad worm just a few feet away. A pair of Sanderlings moved down the shoreline toward us, and one of them, an immature bird, ran into a smaller but angrier Spotted Sandpiper. A confrontation ensued, and the Sanderling was chased away. A Greater Yellowlegs flew in and provided some decent images. While attempting to slowy move forward the nearby birds flushed, and I apologized to Skip for possibly being the cause. I then moved up onto the dike and walked toward the east end of the Cell, when the Wilson's Phalarope and several Stilt Sandpipers flew in and landed where they had been flushed. After a few dozen more pics I moved to the other side of the land-moving equipment and found a pair of Stilt Sandpipers resting in the glow of green waters and late afternoon sun. They soon moved on, and joined the flock of 21 Stilt Sandpipers near the shore toward the west side of the Cell. Running out of battery power and camera memory, I left for home. No Glossy Ibis were seen, and no American Avocet.