Sony a9 Does Scaup - 29 Mar 2019

With rain forecasted for all day Saturday and Sunday I took the clue to run down to Pt. Mouillee SGA and get a Friday evening birding trip under the belt. I wanted the opportunity to give the Sony a9 Firmware 5.0 a work-out. And, what better way than to go after DIFs (ducks in flight).

Skies were overcast and gradually increasing in darkness, but it was still fairly bright enough for birding. Temps were in the mid 50's and a stiff breeze was blowing from the east. This made the biking a struggle as I rode from the Mouillee Creek parking lot along the Middle Causeway toward the Banana Unit. Choppy inland ponds and swollen creeks were slightly foreboding, but I rode on. The first Great Egret of the season was a nice sign. I'd see two more before the end of the day.

Blue-winged Teal were continuing their skittish ways. I would not get close enough to get real good photos, but this flock flushed, flew in a circle, and flew past me and gave me an opportunity to try out the Tracking: Expand Flexible Spot focus mode of the a9. It did not disappoint. The camera locked on and held tracking as the ducks traded places sharing the little green focus points.

The 250+ Mute Swans that I saw a few days ago were either scattered or gone. I would see only 50 or so in the Vermet Unit. The loud "Tu-Tu-Tu" of a Greater Yellowlegs was a welcome harbinger of shorebirds returning to the region.

As I rode the causeway between the Vermet and Humphries Unit a Short-eared Owl flushed to my left and flew back past me and out into the Vermet. By the time I could stop the bike and stabilize myself the owl was heading away. Still, the camera AF (ass-feathers or autofocus) did a nice job tracking the bird and gave me a few record pics.

Reaching the Banana Unit I found a few hundred Greater Scaup, Redhead, Canvasback, Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead in Cell 4. I opted not to ride to the south, instead deciding to head north around the Vermet Unit. The wind made riding now significantly easier as I was no longer riding into it. Plus, the Vermet and Huron River was loaded with several thousand scaup (mostly Greater with dozens of Lesser among them).

I stopped at the newly-created dike jutting out into Cells 4-5 and decided to give it a walk. I wanted to see if I could get any fly-by ducks to photograph, and to check the opening to Lake Erie (I would see a single Horned Grebe among the mainly scaup, Canvasback and Redhead). I was glad I did as I had several large flocks of Greater Scaup fly past or directly overhead. The a9 did a wonderful job of locking on to single birds and keeping focus as I panned and fired away at 20 fps. I did notice focus jump from one bird to another on several occasions, but overall I was very impressed (and giddy) at my capture rate.

As I returned to the bike and continued toward the North Causeway I spent a few minutes watching a group of Greater Scaup swimming in synchronicity. It was enjoyable to watch them swim toward me as one, then turn, then swim away in unison. They repeated this several times with the males tilting their heads back on occasion. They finally tired and flushed as a group to less voyeuristic location.

I was able to get a few photos of ducks flushing from the shore of the Huron River as I rode by, but the vegetation was heavy enough to obscure most of the birds that were just a few feet away. This Bufflehead made for a nice subject even though it was flying away from me.

I would end the evening shooting 2008 frames in less than 3 hours. I still had 73% battery life in the camera. Pretty good considering that the NP-FZ100 battery has a rated life of ~650 still photos per charge. This, of course is based on a routine of photo-review-re-focus and retake image cycle.

I returned to the car just in time to watch the first Osprey of the year appear on the Mouillee Creek catch a shad and return to a second Osprey on the platform nest located adjacent to Roberts Road. I decided to drive by and get a quick pic before heading home.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Mar 29, 2019 5:15 PM - 6:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
32 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  15
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  40     Over 250 seen just 2 days ago in Humphries Unit alone.
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  6
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  18
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  4
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  2
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  6
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  40
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  2000     Mostly in Vermet and Cell5
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  6
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  6
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  2
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  2
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  2
American Coot (Fulica americana)  100
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  6
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  1
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  1     Fly-by calling loud “Tu-Tu-Tu”
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  12
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  2
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  3
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  2     Pair on nest Roberts Rd
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)  1     Flushed from Middle Causeway.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  6
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  50
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  30

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S54352268

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