Shovelers & Bonaparte's - 24 Dec 2012

It was crisp and cold this morning, but I grabbed the bike and decided to ride out to Pt. Mouillee to see if any Snowy Owls mights be hiding out there.  Inland waters were frozen, while Lake Erie and the Huron River were open.  My plan was to ride the Middle Causeway to Cell 3, and cruise the Lake Erie shoreline.

A pair of Northern Harriers were my first birds of the morning, quietly cruising over the Long Pond Unit.  Other than that my first half-hour of riding only yielded straggler Herring/Ring-billed Gulls.

When I reached the Humphries Unit I spotted 8 Bald Eagles perched on the dead trees that make up the  heron/cormorant rookery in the middle of the unit.  Seven birds were juveniles, while one bird was an adult.  

Another 4 adult Bald Eagles were perched in the trees in the Vermet Unit.

Cells 4 - 5 were open, and held scatterings of Mallard, Redhead, Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, and four Tundra Swans (including 2 juveniles).  

Cell 3 was partially frozen, but the open water held ~400 Northern Shovelers tightly packed like a school of tadpoles.  The ducks were foraging in a very small area.

I rode around the south end of the unit out to the Lake Erie shoreline. There I scoped dozens of American Black Ducks, Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead. As I reached the NE corner of the unit another Northern Harrier flushed and scatted 3 dozen American Tree Sparrows.

I then rode along the east side of the Vermet Unit, where I counted 120 Tundra Swans and another 50 Canada Geese roosting on the ice. Heading back around the back side of Cell 5 I checked out the lake, again.  There I found a large raft of ~350 Bonaparte's Gulls bobbing near shore.  A few of the birds were flying next to shore and oblivious to my presence. Figures I'd leave the D300s/300 f/2.8 VRII at home - I love photographing Bonaparte's Gulls.

I spent some time scoping the raft of gulls hoping to find a Little Gull.  I spotted one bird that showed black smudging on the back of the head that looked good for Little Gull.  But the bird lacked any black carpals along the wings (an adult?).  After some time studying the bird I concluded that it must be an adult Bonaparte's Gull that never completed its molt into full-winter, basic plumage.

The flock suddenly lifted off the water and headed to the near shore, where it foraged among the seaweed for 50 yds. either side of me. Without the big camera all I could do was take some pics w/ the Nikon V1 at 30mm.  I grabbed a few videos, and spent a long time studying the birds to see if I could find that one individual w/ the black smudging on the head.  No luck.  But I did see several juvenile birds and tried to turn them into kittiwakes. No luck.

Farther out on the lake the skies were blackening with flocks of Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Black Duck, Common Mergansers and Bufflehead that reached several thousand.  I was too cold to scope them all, and they were far off in the distance.  But they created quite an impressive sight.

Heading back to the car along the North Causeway I spotted dozens of Ruddy Duck and more Lesser Scaup and Bufflehead.  Another Northern Harrier flushed from the ditch to my left and headed off toward the Humphries Unit.  I followed it, hoping it would land, but it continued on to the south.

Several bow-hunters were now out on the dikes looking for deer, but I told them that I had not seen any.

Thoroughly frozen, I returned to the car and headed home to get ready for Christmas Eve and Festivus parties.  Let the airing of grievances commence!

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Dec 24, 2012 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
7.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cold, Cloudy. Inland waters frozen, Huron river open
19 species (+2 other taxa)

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  50
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)  124
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  400     A small patch of open water in Cell 3 was the only inland water open and was packed w/ ~400 Northern Shovelers. Cluster count. Photo shows how tightly packed the birds were.
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  6
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  24
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  50
Redhead (Aythya americana)  56
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  50
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  20     Mouth of Huron River and Lake Erie. Skies were blackening w/ flocks of Lesser/Greater Scaup.
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  2500     Skies over mouth of Huron River were darkening w/ flocks of Aythya ducks that included mainly Lesser and Greater Scaup. Dark ducks w/ light bellies could be distinguished from Canvasback/Redhead flocks in the area.
Aythya sp. (Aythya sp.)  2500
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  66
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  130
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  45
Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus)  1     Suspected Little Gull seen among 350 Bonaparte's Gull. May be a late-molting Bonaparte's but showed dark patch on back of head, and gray collar and indistinct white flashing of primaries. Dark carpal bar was not apparent. Photos included.
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  350     Large flock working the Lake Erie shoreline at the back side of Cell 5. Photo, and estimated cluster count.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  2
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)  3
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  8
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  34

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S100459785

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