Black Terns - 11 Jun 2021
With sunny skies and temps hovering near 90F I decided to grab the bike and take a ride down at Pt. Mouillee. I was interested in seeing if the Wilson's Phalaropes were still around the Middle Causeway. Luckily, I ran into Brian Beauchene at the Mouillee Creek parking lot at 5:30 pm and we exchanged recent sightings.
I took off on the bike and headed toward the North Causeway via the east side of the Walpatich Unit. I stopped long enough to hear a Sedge Wren calling somewhere in the distance. A pair of Bald Eagles were roosting in the trees at the south end of the Nelson Unit and spent a few minutes grabbing flight shots as they circled overhead.
At the NE corner of the Long Pond Unit I scoped a dozen Caspian Terns and found 3 Black Terns among them and two pair of Forster's Terns.
I continued on around the Vermet Unit to Cell 6 (NE corner of Banana Unit) I came across a Mink carrying a freshly caught vole.
Returning to the Middle Causeway yielded a few baby Killdeer and a pair of Blue-winged Teal still hanging around. I did not see any other shorebirds, but Brian texted that the phalaropes and stilts were seen next to the pump house along with several Lesser Yellowlegs.
As I rode to meet up with him along the Middle Causeway the 3 Black Terns flew overhead and allowed some nice, albeit distant, looks.
As reported, I was able to see one Black-necked Stilt and a female Wilson's Phalarope foraging among several pairs of Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Great Egrets, and Canada Geese. The Lesser Yellowlegs were also present.
Before leaving I spotted a Painted Turtle in the middle of the trail and decided to move it back to open water.
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 11, 2021 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
13.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: 90F and sunny
13 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 36
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 26
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 6
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) 1 Continuing. Pumphouse. Tall pink legs under black/white body.
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 8
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) 1 Continuing. Female, Pumphouse.
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 2 Continuing. Pumphouse. Tringa yellowlegs with bill length equal width of head.
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 12
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) 3
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 2
Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Returning to the car I decided to drive down Haggerman Rd. to look for Dickcissels and Bobolinks. I managed to find both and get some decent pics of the former. A few Savannah Sparrows were hanging around, as well.
Antenna Farm, Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 11, 2021 7:30 PM - 7:44 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
2 species
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 3
Dickcissel (Spiza americana) 3
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
