Black-bellied Plover - 05 Aug 2012

A late afternoon ride to Pt. Mouillee yielded this Black-bellied Plover along the North Causeway (just east of the Siegler Rd. parking lot).  It was warm, and a bit breezy, so activity in the marsh was a bit slow.

Shorebird activity was a bit heavier along the west side of the Vermet Unit.  Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Least Sandpipers were everywhere.  I was able to get some nice portraits of the Pectorals in the late afternoon sun.

This Solitary Sandpiper was obliging, so I digiscoped her from the Middle Causeway at about 60'.

Its only been a week since the DNR burned the phragmites in the NE corner of the Humphries Unit, but already there's evidence of regeneration.

Three American Avocets were reported in the NE corner of Cell 3 earlier today, but none were to be found this evening.  Water levels were high enough that only the gulls were roosting along the edge of the vegetation that now covers the original mudflats.

There were no shorebirds to be found along the east shoreline of the Vermet Unit, so I continued around to check out Cell 5.  A good number of Lesser Yellowlegs and Semipalmated Sandpipers were foraging on the mudflats, but that was it.  I decided to call it an early evening.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Aug 5, 2012 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
10.0 mile(s)
11 species

Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  1
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  3
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  2
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  13
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  3
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  16
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  6
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  12
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  36
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S100373943

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