Shorebirds Returning (Again) - 25 Jul 2019

After the week's drenching rains the water level is finally receding here at Pt. Mouillee SGA in Monroe Co., MI. A late afternoon bike ride from Mouillee Creek parking lot revealed lowering water levels, but overgrown vegetation in all places shorebirdy.

I did find a Short-billed Dowitcher among a group of Killdeer along the Middle Causeway midway between Vermet and Humphries Units. It was timid, but did allow some long-distance digiscoping.

A Lesser Scaup in Cell 4 was an interesting surprise.

I rode down to the north end of Cell 1 and found a few shorebirds: 3 Short-billed Dowitchers, 8 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2 Wilson's Snipe, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, and 1 Least Sandpiper.

A large flock of Barn, Bank and Tree Swallows were foraging above the ponds and gave me a chance to practice photographing entropy. Did. Not. Do. Well.

I did get this freak capture; uncropped Bank Swallow in focus in the extreme upper right corner of frame. All other frames were OOF or missing bird parts.

A few dragonfly pics before calling it an evening:

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 25, 2019 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
9.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Drenching rains all week have left the area flooded.
10 species

Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  4
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  4
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  3
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  8
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  12
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  12
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S160736818

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