Sensory Overload! - 20 Aug 2010

Too many shorebirds! Too many shorebirds! I'm standing at the NW corner of Cell 3 and the place is swarming with shorebirds.

I parked at Roberts Rd. parking lot at 5:30 am and biked the Banana Unit out to Cell 3. It was breezy, but still humid. In the dark I could see little except for the occasional flock of Canada Geese flying in the distance. Otherwise, it was bike and keep the mouth closed so as not to inhale the midge swarms.

I stopped along the west shoreline and scanned eastward. I could hear the calls of Semipalmated (machine-gun 'dee-dee-dee') and Pectoral ('chrk-chrk') Sandpipers, and several Black-bellied Plovers. Through the binoculars I was able to make out a pair of Red Knots, only because they appeared paler than the surrounding shorebirds.

As the light increased, the numbers of Short-billed Dowitchers (dozens), Stilt Sandpipers (dozens) Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers (hundreds) became more visible. I wasn't seeing any large waders (godwits or avocets) in the NW corner, so I opted to walk to the east shore and work my way back as lighting improved.

I hiked down the side of the dike and walked along the near shore toward the NE corner. A pair of Red-necked Phalaropes were foraging just 50' away, so I stopped to digiscope them in the early morning light. A video was best since exposure time was not fast enough to capture their frenetic feeding pace:



Several Baird's Sandpipers were nearby, but attempts to digiscope them failed miserably. I was successful in capturing a couple of pics of a relatively tame Ruddy Turnstone, but even it was proving difficult to photograph. So I opted to just scan the corner to look for oddities. 

Most of the hundred or so birds in the weedy shallows were Semipalmated Sandpipers, but I did turn up a Wilson's Snipe.

The large flocks of shorebirds were antsy. Dozens at a time from random locations would flush, whirl and fly out over water, then bank and return to the same spot they left. I kept looking for a Peregrine Falcon or other source of discontent, but saw none. Perhaps these birds are gearing up to fly south?

As the sun started peaking through the heavy cloudcover I found that the phalaropes had returned, so I spent the next half-hour or so concentrating on getting some digiscoped images. I was successful in getting some nice images, but would've liked to have been 20' closer to the birds. There was enough moisture in the air to prevent sharp digiscoped images, even at the low magnification.

Satisfied that there were no 'rarities' amongst these birds, I headed out onto the mudflat to look for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper (reported yesterday by Alison Vilag and Harold Eyster). As I walked slowly I could see dozens of Baird's Sandpipers working the dried ground littered with gull/tern feathers. They would easily disappear into the background if it weren't for their constant movement. They also looked similar enough to the nearby Semipalms that counting them would be a chore.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Sanderlings were also present in unusually high numbers (dozen to 2-doz).

As I scanned the mud and the haze I finally found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper about 60' away. It was too far and moving too fast to photograph cleanly in the haze, but I managed a record shot. I soon left it alone as I spotted Allen Chartier and Don Sherwood up on the dike behind me.

I headed back toward them and reported in. Moments later Jim Fowler, Tex Wells, Dave Washington and Mike McCullough arrived. I was having to leave for work, so I took a quick photo of the group before heading back. I could've spent the day 'attempting' to count the numbers. I should've just taken a bunch of images and created a panorama for counting later, but even that seemed daunting...

Allen would later report seeing a Willet in the Long Pond Unit, and the group would ultimately see 4 Red Knots, 3 Buff-breasted Sandpipers and a Long-billed Dowitcher.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Aug 20, 2010 5:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Too many shorebirds! Too many shorebirds! I'm standing at the NW corner of Cell 3 and the place is swarming with shorebirds.
I parked at Roberts Rd. parking lot at 5:30 am and biked the Banana Unit out to Cell 3.
14 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  24
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  3
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  24
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  1
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)  2
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)  1
Red Knot (Calidris canutus)  2     larger/paler than surrounding shorebirds;
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  12
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis)  1
Sanderling (Calidris alba)  2
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)  3
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  24
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  12
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  36

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42350707

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