Baby Days! - 04 Jul 2010

I spent yesterday building a digiscoping adaptor for the new Zeiss 40X eyepiece that I received on Friday. This morning I was anxious to try it out, so I headed down to Pt. Mouillee first thing after church and breakfast. Temps were supposed to 90F today, so I wanted to get in some birding before things got too uncomfortable.

Parking at Mouillee Creek I rode the bike up the Middle Causeway toward the Walpatich and Lautenschager Units. Notable birds included Swamp Sparrows and Marsh Wrens. The Lautenschager Unit was dry and steadily growing in w/ grass.

The official first bird for the new eyepiece was a Marsh Wren singing in the phragmites next to the Lead Unit. It was out in the open, and stayed put for a few seconds of observation before flying across the water to the stands of cattails. I followed it to the junction of Lead, Long Pond and Vermet Units where I found American Coots and Pied-billed Grebes with this year's young. A Wood Duck family was also present, but hightailed it out of view the moment I pulled up on the bike.

The coots were closest, so I spent some time digiscoping the young while trying out the new adaptor. I really like the 40X view. With the Coolpix P6000 at 6mm (1X) there is only slight vignetting and the images are really sharp. Nice magnifications were had when I zoomed the camera to the 12mm (2x) and 16mm (3x) ranges.

Satisfied with my efforts I turned the scope on the Osprey platform in the Lead Unit, where I found two adult birds tending 3 chicks. The chicks were still growing feathers, and seemed to be along way from fledging. While scoping them a male Yellow-headed Blackbird flew through my field of view! Nice find.

I then hopped on the bike and started heading toward Cell 3, but had to stop quickly when a baby Killdeer bolted from the grass under my tires. I followed the tiny fluff ball as it scampered up the gravel road and ducked into the grass to my right. How adorable are these tiny things? The parents were along the shore and farther up the road and quickly flew back to the chick(s) as soon as I left the area.

I refound the two Plegadis ibis in the Vermet Unit foraging behind a stand of cattails. They were severely backlit in the morning sunlight, and didn't stay long, flying off toward a group of 2-dozen Great Egrets roosting in the SE corner of the unit. The young Sandhill Cranes were also in the area. Before leaving the area I took a few flight shots of a young Black-crowned Night Heron and a non-breeding Forster's Tern.

Reaching the Banana Unit I found several Lesser Scaup in Cell 4. A Baltimore Oriole was flying ahead of my bike, but refused to land anywhere close enough to digiscope.

Cell 3 held a few shorebirds: a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs, a pair of Dunlin, several Least Sandpipers, and several Semipalmated Sandpipers. I scooted down the side of the dike and set the scope up in the mud flat next to a large dirt pile. With dredging spoils being pumped into Cell 3 there was very little exposed mud flat. With the large flock of Ring-billed/Herring Gulls, Caspian and Forster's Terns I had to be careful about scaring the birds.

As I scanned the Caspian Terns I noticed several juvenile birds among the adults.

Nearby a pair of Common Terns were roosting on the mudflat, and they had a juvenile bird with them! Note the orange bill with dark tip. This suggests a Forster's Tern, but the dark eye patch 'behind' the eye and a dark carpal bar on the wings verified that the bird belonged to the adult Common Terns. Also, Forster's Terns at this age would have an all-black bill. This made sense since the bird kept begging for food but seemed to be ignored by the adults.

At one point the two adults took off and circled overhead just a few dozen feet away. This gave me time to get some flight shots that show off the ashy-gray breast and the black primary feathers not found as extensively on Forster's Terns.

As the birds landed near the juvenile bird it proceeded to lie prostrate on the mud and close its eyes. 

I thought for a moment that it was under stress and was about to die, but it soon started begging again, then hopped up and flew to the farthest edge of the sand bar. Maybe these weren't its parents? or it was just throwing a temper tantrum?

I then turned the scope on the edge of the nearby shoreline and spent the next half-hour digiscoping the pair of Lesser Yellowlegs, the Dunlin, and Least Sandpipers. One of the yellowlegs was preening, so I was able to get some nice portrait shots. Its plumage appeared to be alternate with only slight wear.

As I scanned the Dunlin I noticed one poor bird hopping on one leg. No wonder, it was missing its foot. Both it and its feeding partner showed worn alternate plumage. 

The Least Sandpiper looked to be a worn alternate adult bird, as well. While I scanned the little sandpiper a pair of Green-winged Teal waddled by and afforded nice views and a few pics!

The Common Terns flew to a nearby log and gave me the opportunity for more digiscoped images. Note the relatively short legs, gray belly and breast, orange-red bill with black tip, and wing projection that extends beyond the tail.

Now look at a nearby Forster's Tern that I digiscoped from about the same distance. Its chest is white, bill is more orange-yellow, and wing projection is short of the tail. In flight it would show only a couple of black primary feather edges.

Heading back toward the Vermet Unit I stopped to scan the dozens of Great Egrets scattered all over. Out in the middle of the unit I found a pair of Black Terns with 3 juvenile birds flying over the cattails. They showed much black and white speckling on the face, while the adult birds still retained their black heads and chest.

Just below me in the canal a family of Mallards were swimming by: a female with a half-dozen chicks. This gave me a chance to test the digiscoping adaptor at full zoom range: 1X, 2X, 3X and 4X. 

I noticed that vignetting was a bit more severe: I believe the problem is that the adaptor is mounted a couple of millimeters too far from the eyepiece glass. Still, the images looked pretty good w/o having to crop. 

Just before leaving I spotted a baby Northern Water Snake, and made sure to get it off the trail before heading on.

I continued down the North Causeway toward the trail separating Vermet and Long-Pond Units. Winds were now starting to pick up and the heat was starting to get uncomfortable. I stopped long enough to digiscope a Pied-billed Grebe, only to watch 4-5 baby chicks pop out of the reeds and scamper toward the far side of the canal. I managed a couple pics of one chick as it lagged behind the others.

Finally, I spotted a Common Moorhen with several chicks, and got nice digiscoped images of the adults and of the young. Great way to end the morning. With two memory cards about full I decided to head home. Happy Independence Day!

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 4, 2010 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Hot, humid, 90F forecast today
26 species (+1 other taxa)

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  5
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  10
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  2
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  4
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  9     5 adults and 4 hatchlings
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  4
American Coot (Fulica americana)  5
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  3
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  2     adult and hatchling
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  2
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)  2
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  3
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  3
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  16
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  10
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  12
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  5     2 adults and 3 juveniles in Vermet
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  6
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)  3
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  1
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  24
Glossy/White-faced Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus/chihi)  2     Vermet Unit foraging behind cattails. Brown ibis pair w/ long decurved bills. Too backlit for ID.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  5     2 adults and 3 chicks on nest platform in Lead Unit
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  2
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)  1
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S165285939

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