Semipalms Up Close! - 01 Jun 2020

After a very successful encounter with the Whimbrel and Black-bellied Plover along the Middle Causeway I decided to pack up and call it an afternoon. That lasted all of 20 yards.

A flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers were foraging along the south shoreline of the Vermet Unit and just a few yards away. Normally I'd set up and digiscope them from this close, but I decided to get some photos w/ the Sony a9 and a7RIV systems. The birds were oblivious to my presence, so I found myself on the mudflat sitting just yards away from them as they foraged, flushed, returned, and squabbled amongst each other. The following is a photo essay of these peeps shot with the a9 (flight) and a7RIV (foraging).

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 1, 2020 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
17 species

Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  1
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  1
Redhead (Aythya americana)  5
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  1     Female among several Redhead, a Canvasback in north end of Cell 4. Tiny diver with white patch on side of head.
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  5     2 adults and 3 hatchlings
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  2
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  1
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  60
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  1
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  3
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  16
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)  1
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  1
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  36

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S160256762

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