Cattle Egret! - 19 Aug 2017

After the rains of the past day or two the Long Pond has apparently flooded enough to disperse shorebirds. Word had it that the Lautenschlager Unit of Point Mouillee was now the place to look. A Cattle Egret was even spotted along with 3 Wilson's Phalaropes. So, this morning I parked at Mouillee Creek and headed out the Middle Causeway toward the Pump House.

A nice smattering or shorebirds were collected in the shallow waters of the Walpatich Unit just opposite of the Pump House. Most were Lesser Yellowlegs, but a half-dozen Short-billed Dowitchers were scattered among Least, Semipalmated and Pectoral Sandpipers. Too far to digiscope I decided to turn the scope on a nearby Great Egret to see if increasing shutter speed to 1/1000 sec would improve image sharpness. Not bad...

As I passed the dike separating Walpatich east and Lautenschlager west shorelines I spotted the Cattle Egret. Its orange plumes, short stature, yellow legs and chicken-walk was unmistakable. I was able to get some digiscoped images before leaving it to continue on.

As I reached the open waters of the Lautenschlager Unit I spotted several juvenile Short-billed Dowitchers close enough to digiscope. Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers were nearby, but flying off.

I then spotted Dave Washington, Mary Tremblay, Jim Fowler and Scott Jennex at the east side of the unit, so I rode over to say hello. Mary showed me photos  of a beautiful Blue Grosbeak they found on Roberts Road just a half-hour earlier. They also reported high waters in the Long Pond Unit, so I decided to scan the shorebirds in the Lautenschlager east/north before heading off to look for the grosbeak.

As they drove off looking for the Cattle Egret I reported, I continued on north along the dike and scoped several Stilt Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Blue- and Green-winged Teal, and finally, two of the three Wilson's Phalaropes reported yesterday. They were in the far north end of the unit among a half-dozen Great Egrets. Incidentally, there were at least 60 Great Egrets in the Lautenschlager Unit alone!

I then headed over to Roberts Road to look for the Blue Grosbeak. Jim Fowler indicated that it was seen between Rheaume Rd. and the hill to the south among some Russian Olive trees, so I cruised slowly looking for it. I would drive all the way down to the parking lot and see only a few Indigo Buntings and Cedar Waxwings. At the parking lot itself there was a 200+ flock of Purple Martins massing in the bare trees on the south side of the road.

I returned back along Roberts Road and found only an Indigo Bunting close enough to digiscope. So I got out and scoped it from about 60' away.

I would have to come back later to see if the Blue Grosbeak could be seen. I continued on to Haggerman Road to see if anything of interest was in the Antennae Farm. I would find 11 American Kestrels working the just-mowed fields. Six bird were hovering together over the stubble, while another five birds were perched on the fences and wires farther to the north. Wow!

Pte. Mouillee SGA, Monroe, Michigan, US
Aug 19, 2017 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Lautenschläger and Walpatich Units only. Roberts Rd looking for Blue Grosbeak reported by Mary Tremblay.
33 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  1
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  8
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  12
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  4
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)  4
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  70     60 birds in Lautenschläger Unit alone. Massing for migration south has begun.
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)  1     On dike between Walpatich and Lautenschlager Units. Digiscoped as it walked north along dike.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  3     Pair nesting on Roberts Rd.
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  2
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  3     Juveniles in basic plumage; no belly stripes; buffy throats, yellow legs, long straight bill and lean-forward feeding motion unlike dowitchers.
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  6
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  12
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  14
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  12
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  1
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)  2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  12
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  2
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  11     Six birds hovering over mowed field on south side of Haggerman Rd. and five more on fence and field of Antennae Farm! Wow!
Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi)  1     Roberts Road. Dark flycatcher with white wing patches were distinctive. Reported earlier by Jim Fowler
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  1
Purple Martin (Progne subis)  200     Large flock is massing in trees next to Roberts Rd. parking lot at south end of Pt. Mouillee. Many birds on road next to parking lot.
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  12
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  20
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  10
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38735333

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