Pt Mouillee SGA - 09 Jan 2016

After yesterday's heavy rainfall I took the chance to bike down at Pt. Mouillee SGA in Monroe Co., MI. Trails were soft, and biking was a bit strenuous, especially with winds blowing across the lake. I had parked at Roberts Road entrance and biked the Banana Unit to look for Snowy Owls (nope) and / or Short-eared Owls (nope).

Inland units are finally freezing over. Vermet and Humphries Units are about 80-90 % frozen, with little pockets of open water filled with American Coot, Gadwall and Mallard. Lake Erie is open for the most part, with shallows holding some ice. A pair of Great Black-backed Gulls were seen just off the parking lot area among a dozen or so Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. Small groups of 6 - 10 Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and / or American Coot were drifting next to shore as I biked around the east side of the Banana.

Three Bonaparte's Gulls were foraging next to the shoreline behind Cell 2. Despite low light and blowing winds I decided to try for a few pics of my favorite winter gull. In flight one can see the lovely white  P7.5 - P10 feathers contrasting against the gray P1-7.5 feathers (I say P7.5 because half the flight feather is gray while the other half is bright white).

Cell 3 was void of movement. Despite open mudflats I could not find a late winter shorebird or Snowy Owl. It was barren.

Cell 4 held a few ducks, including a small raft of Ruddy Ducks that included a single Surf Scoter (juvenile male)!  A Horned Grebe was seen out in the lake.

A large flight of scaup and Common Goldeneye was seen heading south. Several thousand birds forming large ribbons across the sky.

The sun finally popped out for a few minutes, otherwise it was cloudy and dark.

As I was driving out of the parking lot a Red-tailed Hawk perched on a nearby snag and posed nicely when the sun popped out. It was a juvenile with heavily worn tail feathers.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jan 9, 2016 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Heavy rain yesterday
13 species (+1 other taxa)

Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  40
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  35
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  400
Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)  1     juv male
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  6
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  120
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  16
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  1
American Coot (Fulica americana)  120
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  3
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  9
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  13
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)  2
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S161701171

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