Last shorebirding of the season - 06 Sep 2010


Happy Labor Day! With the official end of summer upon us, Robin and I took a ride out to the Henry Ford for an afternoon hike through the (Greenfield) Village. I carried the camera, but found nothing particularly eye-catching to photograph. Lots of interesting stuff, but lighting wasn't all that great. We tried to have tea at the Cottage but swarms of wasps and hornets prevented any chance of relaxing. So we headed home.

With the sun coming out I felt an urge to get out to Pt. Mouillee for one last time. We'd be heading on vacation at the end of the week, so I wouldn't have time to get out there before hunting season started (on the 15th). So, I grabbed the bike and headed out for an early evening trip to Cell 3.

I parked at Mouillee Creek and biked the Middle Causeway to Cell 3.


There, I quickly spotted one of 5 Marbled Godwits feeding near the NW corner of the cell. A few snaps w/ the camera, followed by some digiscoping, netted a few nice keepers.



Three Red-necked Phalaropes were feeding along the shoreline directly below me and provided numerous photos with the D300, but only moments after getting the scope set up, a passing Peregrine Falcon caused the entire flock of shorebirds to erupt and head out to deeper water.



I spent a few moments looking for the falcon, which had continued on over the Humphries Unit, then concentrated on getting some flight shots of the shorebirds as they banked and flew back toward the NW corner of the cell. After reviewing images I was able to pick out a pair of White-rumped Sandpipers among the numerous Pectoral, Stilt, Baird's and Semipalmated Sandpipers. The image below shows a White-rumped, Baird's, Pectoral, and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers. A Red-necked Phalarope was nearby, but out of focus...


The godwits headed out to the far side of the mudflats, so I was able to concentrate on the phalaropes below me. Try as I might, I could only manage a few digiscoped images of the birds as they swam directly below me. Glare from the setting sun was preventing a clear view of the camera viewfinder, so much of the digiscoping was blind. Still, I had some nice keepers and the best images to date of these nemesis birds.



As I scoped the mudflats I picked out 3 White-rumped Sandpipers feeding together, and two more farther out. Digiscoping was a bit of a reach, but I managed a keeper or two.


Stilt Sandpipers were more numerous today than Short-billed Dowitchers. I counted at least 2 dozen Stilts among the half-dozen dowitchers. 


I could not find any Long-billed Dowitchers. Pectoral Sandpipers were everywhere, and probably numbered 3-4 dozen. 


Baird's Sandpipers numbered 1-2 dozen and were found along the edges of the mudlines. I did not bother to look for Buff-breasted Sandpipers since the sun was now getting low enough to prevent any decent photography.

But it was a good season here at the Moo, and perhaps the best shorebirding in Cell 3 to date. Its now time to concentrate on a hawk migration, and hopefully pick up some fall warblers before the cold weather sets in.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Sep 6, 2010 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
9 species

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)  5     cell 3
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  6     Cell 3. We did not see any long-billed dowitchers. No molting birds.
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)  3
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  24     Stilt Sandpipers were more numerous today than Short-billed Dowitchers. I counted at least 2 dozen Stilts among the half-dozen dowitchers.
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)  12     Baird's Sandpipers numbered 1-2 dozen and were found along the edges of the mudlines. Mostly juveniles that were distinctive w/ there black-white checkered backs, straight black bills, and legs, and Buffy 'bibs'
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)  3
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  24     as many as 3-dozen
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  23
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42373268

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