Pt. Mouillee SGA - 04 May 2020
On this cool, cloudy morning I loaded the bike and headed to the Mouillee Creek entrance of the state game area. At 7am the skies were clear, but clouds were moving in from the north west.
Despite the low light I immediately came upon a silhouetted Lesser Yellowlegs feeding along the Middle Causeway in the Walpatich Unit. The nightcrawler gave up a good fight, but lost in the end.
I turned at the Pumphouse and headed south toward the Bad Creek Unit to see just how flooded the area was. I was not disappointed. The fields were under water and no shorebird habitat was to be found. A flock of 11 Sandhill Cranes was a nice consolation.
As I returned to the Middle Causeway an Osprey made a fly by in the low light.
I stopped in the Bloody Run Unit to photograph a singing Swamp Sparrow.
Heading along the dike toward the North Causeway a small flock of 8 Dunlin were foraging close enough to scope, while a much larger, massive flock of 400+ Dunlin were foraging in the Nelson Unit.
As I rode into the sunrise I took the opportunity to photograph a fly-by Forster's Tern. This sequence is 102 images; every frame is spot in focus. A testament to the tracking abilities of the Sony a9.
A flock of Common Terns were roosting among Caspian Terns, Bonaparte's Gulls, several Forster's Terns and Ring-billed Gulls. I spent some digiscoping them and a cooperative Dunlin that was resting along the edge of the mudflat.
As I reached the Vermet Unit the clouds had arrived and the winds picked up. Blowing steadily from the north west my ride back to the car was painful and slow. Only a Tree Swallow would give me reason to stop.
As I reached the Vermet Unit the clouds had arrived and the winds picked up. Blowing steadily from the north west my ride back to the car was painful and slow. Only a Tree Swallow would give me reason to stop.
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
May 4, 2020 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
10 species
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 11
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 408
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 15
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 6
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 4
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) 3
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 1
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
May 4, 2020 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
10 species
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 11
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 408
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 15
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 6
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 4
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) 3
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 1
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
