Last time for the Moo? - 04 Sep 2009

Between Sept. 1 - 15 Pt. Mouillee SGA is open to early goose season. But the place is still open to birders, so I decided to make one last trip before the SGA closes for good. I parked at Mouillee Creek and found several vehicles already there. But I loaded the bike up and headed up the Middle Causeway. The first thing that struck me was how quiet the marsh was. Not a swallow to be seen and no noise coming from anywhere.

But the sun was rising blood red and the mist over the marsh was burning off. No gunfire, so no worries, right? 

I passed Mike, Allison and her mom and continued on ahead of them. I proceeded past the Walpatich Unit and noticed immediately that the shoreline to my left had been mowed right down to the water's edge. The shoreline along the east side of the unit had also been trenched and it appears that piping may be installed there(?). I managed to flush a half-dozen Green Herons from various locations and found one Black-crowned Night Heron. I didn't bother w/ the Lautenschager Unit and continued on toward the junction of Lead and Vermet Units.

There I ran into Will Weber, who was scoping a Long-billed Dowitcher and Cattle Egret on the tiny island in the Lead Unit. We chatted a while, then headed up the Middle Causeway toward Cell 3. Along the way we spotted six American White Pelicans soaring over Cell 4 and heading toward the Lead Unit. I grabbed a few flight shots from a distance as they floated by.

We arrived at Cell 3 and scoped the mud flats. I immediately spotted an American Golden Plover out in the middle of the mud, while Will found a couple of Baird's Sandpipers farther out. Numerous Caspian Terns, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls were roosting at the edge of the mud flat, and among them were several Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, one Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers.

We then noticed the pelicans out in the Lead Unit. Grabbing our scopes we trained them on the distant Lead Unit and counted 9 American White Pelicans. A few digiscoped images later, followed by nice looks at a fawn along the dike, and we continued on northward toward the Vermet Unit.

The Vermet Unit this morning appeared to be shorebird heaven! Unfortunately, the birds were hundreds of yards away, and we needed our scopes at 60X power just to make them out. But the effort was worth it, as Will found 2 Marbled Godwits, a small spit of mud containing a half-dozen Long-billed Dowitchers in basic plumage, several Stilt Sandpipers in basic plumage, and a half-dozen Black-bellied Plovers scattered about. I was busy following a Northern Harrier that was flying along the edge of the marsh away in the distance. Will then found a Merlin that was stirring up the shorebirds, and while tracking it found a group of 8 Red Knots feeding in shallow mud/grass. I was able to confirm his sightings, and we happily continued on toward Cell 5.

Cell 5 held only a couple of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, so we rode along the Lake Erie shoreline toward the North Causeway. We did scare up a few Lesser Scaup from the rocks lining the shore, and a few more Spotted Sandpipers. A Belted Kingfisher also distracted us from the swarms of midges bouncing off our faces as we rode.

In the north corner of the Vermet Unit we found dozens of Lesser Yellowlegs, several Baird's Sandpipers, and numerous Pectoral Sandpipers feeding in the shallow water. 

We were hoping for a phalarope, but had to settle for a Northern Harrier that was preening in the grass near the Osprey tower. We met up w/ Paul, Linda and Jeff and enjoyed nice views of Pectoral Sandpipers and more yellowlegs.

Suddenly the birds flushed from several directions and we spotted one of 3 Northern Harriers flying directly toward us along the shoreline. Try as I might I could not for the life of me get the Nikon D300 / Sigma 400 to focus on the harrier as it floated just a few feet away from us. I finally managed to fire off several images as it passed. 

With most of birds gone, we continued on toward the cars. As we headed along the west shore of the Vermet Unit we had two separate encounters with Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Back along the Middle Causeway as we approached the parking lot we scared up several Eastern Kingbirds, Gray Catbirds, Willow Flycatchers, and a Black-billed Cuckoo that flew across our path.

Not a bad way to end(?) the birding season at Pt. Mouillee.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Sep 4, 2009 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
32 species

Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  2
Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus)  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)  1
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  6
American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)  1
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)  2     Will Weber and I scoped 2 birds in Vermet. Continuing.
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)  7     junction of Lead and Vermet Units. Gray dowitcher on island in Lead Unit. Plump molting bird separates from SBDO. Six more in Vermet Unit.
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  2
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  23
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)  1
Red Knot (Calidris canutus)  8     feeding in shallow mud/grass in Vermet among other shorebirds.
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  3
Sanderling (Calidris alba)  1
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)  2
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  12
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  12
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  12
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  12
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  12
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  12
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  9     6 soaring over Cell 4 and heading toward Lead Unit; later counted 9 in Lead Unit.
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  1
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  6
Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)  1     on island in Lead Unit next to LBDO.
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  2
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  2
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)  3
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1
Merlin (Falco columbarius)  1
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  1     "Fitz-bew!" calling flycatcher near Mouillee creek parking lot.
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  1
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42234823

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