Plegadis ibis @ Pt. Mouillee - 29 Jun 2010

Following up on Will Weber's (Saturday) and Brad Murphy's (Sunday) reports I took a ride down to Pt. Mouillee (6 pm) to see if I could relocate the two Plegadis ibis. Will's photos suggest White-faced Ibis with possibility of a GlossyxWhite-faced hybrid. Skies were partly cloudy with a light breeze.

I parked at Roberts Rd. and biked out to Cell 3, passing several Baltimore Orioles, Common Moorhen, American Coot, and Pied-billed Grebes along the way. Once there I relocated the female Wilson's Phalarope on the mud flats near a pair of Dunlin and several Semipalmated Sandpipers. The dowitchers were not seen. The WP was gorgeous, but unfortunately too far away to digiscope. One of the employees at the dredge/pumping site stopped on his way out and asked if I was seeing anything of interest. I tried to show him the phalarope, but it had flown out of site. As I walked back to the bike I spent a few minutes photographing the numerous Halloween Pennant dragonflies along the trail side.

I continued on down the Middle Causeway and found the pair of Plegadis ibis feeding along the south side of the Vermet Unit near the island where the Bald Eagles were nesting. Among them were a dozen or so Great Egrets. I parked the bike and hiked past the sunflower field and through the phragmites to the edge of the pond hoping to get better looks at the two birds. The egrets spotted me and flushed, but the ibis remained for a few more minutes. I had time to take a couple of long-distance shots w/ the 400mm lens, but they flushed as I moved to set up the scope. I managed several flight shots as they flew off, circled, and headed for the Lead Unit.

One bird appeared to be younger than the other. It had a dark face with possible gray loral patch, and a brown eye with a hint of red in it. The second bird showed a thin white loral patch above the eye with a pink wash to it. Its eyes were more reddish. When they flushed, I was able to see red in both sets of eyes.

These birds may be 1st year birds, which are known to undergo a post-juvenal molt their first summer. I noticed the younger-looking bird appearing to be losing one of its interior primary feathers, while the older-looking bird was already missing some feathers. So, whether one or both birds are hybrids remains unclear, but the images suggest the possibility, and only time will tell if they mature into Glossy, White-faced, or both.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 29, 2010 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Partly cloudy w/ light breeze
7 species (+1 other taxa)

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  2
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  2
American Coot (Fulica americana)  2
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)  1     Female in Cell 3 among Dunlin and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Continuing.
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  12
Glossy/White-faced Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus/chihi)  2     Middle Causeway and south end of Vermet Unit. Brown ibis w/ reddish eyes and lack of facial skin patches. Molting primaries seen in flight. I had time to take a couple of long-distance shots w/ the 400mm lens, but they flushed as I moved to set up the scope. I managed several flight shots as they flew off, circled, and headed for the Lead Unit.

One bird appeared to be younger than the other. It had a dark face with possible gray loral patch, and a brown eye with a hint of red in it. The second bird showed a thin white loral patch above the eye with a pink wash to it. Its eyes were more reddish. When they flushed, I was able to see red in both sets of eyes.These birds may be 1st year birds, which are known to undergo a post-juvenal molt their first summer. I noticed the younger-looking bird appearing to be losing one of its interior primary feathers, while the older-looking bird was already missing some feathers. So, whether one or both birds are hybrids remains unclear, but the images suggest the possibility, and only time will tell if they mature into Glossy, White-faced, or both.
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  2
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S165289596

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

I then returned to the car and headed over to Haggerman Rd to look for Dickcissels. The setting sun was at a perfect angle to illuminate the fence surrounding the antennae farm, and sure enough, I found one bird perched in the open. Several others were calling in the distance. Eastern Meadowlarks were present, but I did not hear/see any Bobolinks.

I grabbed the scope and spent several minutes digiscoping the Dickcissel from about 60'. With the sun shining on it I had to stop down the Coolpix P6000 to -2.0 exp. comp. in order to avoid blown highlights. But I managed to get several dozen nice images, and even a couple of videos before leaving the birds and heading home.

Antenna Farm, Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 29, 2010 7:30 PM - 7:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
2 species

Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)  2
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S165290214

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