Frustrating Morning - 30 May 2020


A trip to Pt. Mouillee SGA this morning had its good, and its bad. First the good.

I parked at Siegler Rd. just before 7 am and rode the north causeway east toward Lake Erie. My plan was to loop around so the Sun would be behind me when I return down the Middle Causeway and look for a White-faced Ibis that was reported yesterday.

I arrived at the NE corner of the Long Pond Unit and heard the familiar honking of a Yellow-headed Blackbird. Sure enough, a juvenile male was singing away at eye level about 30' away. It was still dark, so handholding the 200-600mm lens on the Sony a7RIV produced many soft images as 1/250 sec was the best I could do at ISO 3200. I had better luck digiscoping the bird w/ the Sony a7III!



As I photographed the Yellow-headed Blackbird I could hear an American Bittern "Ka-Chunk-ing" near the water's edge. I could not relocate it.

As I reached the Banana Unit the clouds started thickening enough to darken the morning skies even more, and the Sun started to disappear behind them. Winds also started picking up (you know, as I would turn south and back west...).  But, Cell 5 was hopping with some nice action: flocks of Great Egret (14) and Black-crowned Night Herons (12) flushed from the phragmites in front of me while another dozen American White Pelicans circled over the large pond next to Lake Erie.


As I made my way around the Cell a half-dozen Forster's Terns and a Common Tern worked the shoreline fishing for minnows. The Sony a9 and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens was stellar! I could lock onto a bird and keep autofocus for 20-30 frames at a time.






Until I couldn't.

Either I bumped the camera or an internal short occurred that turned the Auto-ISO from 6400 to 125, which meant everything from here on was being shot at 1/125 second; too slow to capture any birds in flight. Including a Black Tern that flew right past me. Ugh....



I did manage a keeper of an over flying Chimney Swift.


The Sony a7RIV and 200-600mm lens did no better. It turns out that this combo is NOT good at birds in flight when zoomed past about 400mm. Everything is soft, and autofocus is unreliable. Especially when an American Bittern flushed from right in front of me, and I couldn't get the camera to even focus on the bird as it flew away from me. Ugh + 1...


I did manage a few photos of the pelicans.




I rode around to Cell 4 and was immediately hit with high winds and hard riding. As I reached the Middle Causeway the winds died a bit, but now it was cloudy and no White-faced Ibis was to be found.

I ran into Andy Sturgess and a few other birders that were on a Least Bittern in gorgeous sunlight. I managed to get the scope on it, but it flew just as I was reaching for the digiscoping camera. Again, I made the mistake of reaching for the 200-600mm lens and could not get the camera to lock focus on the bird as it flew low along the ditch and then over the dike. Ugh, again....


But, it wasn't a bad morning. I did see some nice birds, and got some very nice images. The ride was good, and I got some exercise.



I would check the Sony a9 when I got home and found out that most of my settings were off. Focus mode was off. Programmed ISO was incorrect, and Memory settings were off. This makes me think that there is an internal error in the camera, but because my ISO dial can be easily bumped I disabled it. After re-setting my Memory settings I'll give it a try again. Hopefully, tomorrow.

We continue to learn.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
May 30, 2020 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Clear, sunny
12 species

Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)  1
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  1
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  6
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)  1
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  12
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)  2
Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)  1
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  12
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  14
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  12
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S160257511

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