Shorebirding @ Pt. Mouillee SGA - 19 Jul 2018

I decided to go into work a few hours late this morning and take advantage of some warm weather and clear skies. Starting out a Mouillee Creek at 6 am I rode the bike out to the Bad Creek Unit to the early morning chorus of Ring-necked Pheasant, Song Sparrow, Indigo Buntings and Swamp Sparrows. I managed to even hear a Dickcissel first thing!

Upon arriving at the flooded fields in the Bad Creek Unit I was met with ~110 Great Egrets and another 40 Great Blue Herons roosting in the flood to my left. A flock 13 Sandhill Cranes were clustered on the mudflats to the right and seemed oblivious to the family of Coyotes in the fields just few dozen yards away.

I had just gotten the scope set up when the cranes decided to take flight to the west, while many of the egrets began lifting off. Out to the south a squadron of another 50 Great Blue Herons headed in to join the roost.

One Coyote was upset and spent almost 20 minutes howling a blood-curdling howl that echoed in the early morning hour. I managed to swing the scope on it and get a few minutes video.

There were good numbers of shorebirds in the field. I managed to scope 7 Stilt Sandpipers.

Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, Killdeer and Short-billed Dowitchers were also seen. They were too far out to get any decent images, especially this early in the morning, so I spent most of the time trying to find any gems among them.

I headed back to the Middle Causeway and headed to the SE corner of the Long Pond Unit. I was hoping to see the King Rails that were spotted yesterday. No sooner did I arrive that I spotted a single juvenile running across the mudflats in the corner of the unit. I managed to get a few pics before it disappeared into the phragmites.

A Wilson's Snipe flew in, and joined a Short-billed Dowitcher that had been foraging at the water's edge. I spent some time digiscoping them, then moved north along the dike toward the North Causeway. As I rode I flushed a tiny rail from the trail - a baby Sora! It was too light to be a Yellow Rail, but I could dream...

A pair of Sandhill Cranes were foraging in the Long Pond and offered some nice digiscoped images just as the Sun came up.

As I reached the North Causeway I began hearing the first of 5 Dickcissels that were scattered along the Long Pond Unit. I would miss seeing the Marbled Godwit that was reported yesterday, and would not see any more King Rails.

It was getting late, and I needed to get to work, so I headed back to the car.

Pte. Mouillee SGA, Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 19, 2018 6:03 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
6.419 mile(s)
33 species (+1 other taxa)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  65
Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)  1
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  90     40 GBH in Bad Creek Unit while another 50 flew in from SW
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  150     Bad Creek Unit congregation - 90 birds with another 60 in Long Pond
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  16
King Rail (Rallus elegans)  1     Juvenile in SE corner of Long Pond. Larger than nearby Lesser Yellowlegs differentiates from Virginia Rail. Pics.
Sora (Porzana carolina)  1     Juvenile flushed from dike in front of me and flew along trail ahead of bike. Light brown coloration helped differentiate from the Yellow Rail that I wished I was seeing...
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  18     13 in one group in Bad Creek Unit plus 3 more in group, pair calling from Humphries Unit
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  12
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  7     Bad Creek Unit
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  6
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  4
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  12
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  1
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  1
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  2
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  2
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  18
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  12
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  12
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  69
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  4
Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis)  1
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)  2
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  12
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  2
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)  7     4 in Long Pond, 1 in Walpatich, 2 in Middle Causeway near Vermet. All singing.
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)  5
blackbird sp. (Icteridae sp.)  100
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  6

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S47289137

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