Mayflies! - 20 Jun 2021


I drove out to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge early this afternoon to look for a Dickcissel that was reported earlier in the day. I was able to find it in the field next to the parking lot in front of the Visitor Center. In fact, I even got pics of the bird w/ the famed Trenton Power Plant stack in the background. 




I had to be careful driving as the Killdeer are running around with little ones already hatched and scampering about across the roads.


Detroit River IWR--Refuge Gateway (Humbug Marsh), Wayne, Michigan, US
Jun 20, 2021 2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.4 mile(s)
2 species

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  6
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S159811018

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

I then drove to Pt. Mouillee and parked at Siegler Rd. It was a humid 85F with little wind so it felt good to ride without that terminal headwind. This Blue Dasher didn't mind the lack of wind.

In the Walpatich Unit I found an adult Black-crowned Night Heron sitting in shallow water. I was surprised that it didn't flush upon my approch, but after looking at pics I wonder if it had an injured wing. Or, it was just hot enough to not care....


I rode out to the pumphouse and scanned the Humphries Unit for shorebirds. I saw a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs but failed to see any evidence of the Black-necked Stilt(s) or Wilson's Phalarope(s) that were reported just a few days earlier. As I walked back to the bike I noticed a Killdeer crouched down not one bike-length from my rear tires. It was on a next that I could have easily ridden over. I carefully moved the bike and took a quick pic of the eggs while Mom screamed a few feet away.



As I continued on along the Middle Causeway I had to stop a moment to enjoy the expanse of the Birdsfoot Trefoil growing all over the place. It truly is a lovely ground cover.



Of course, if you look close enough you could start to see almost all of the plants nearby covered with a fresh hatch of Hexagenia limbata, or Giant Mayfly. As I rode the causeway past the Vermet Unit toward the Banana Unit I suddenly was covered with the now-ubiquitous insect. I was happy to see so many, although I was careful to remove as many from me as possible so I didn't squish them. 





I did not see any Wilson's Phalaropes but did see several pair of Blue- and Green-winged Teal in the Humphries Unit. The Little Blue Heron reported early in the day could not be seen in the Vermet Unit. 

I looped around the east side of the Vermet Unit toward the North Causeway and managed to see a single Lesser Scaup in Cell 4. 


A Mink ran across the road with a fish in its mouth. It looks like a Round-tailed Goby that swam too close to shore for its own good.


My best bird, however, was an Indigo Bunting singing atop phragmites in the wasteland of Cell 5. Digiscoping was necessary to capture this beauty.



I spotted another group of Lesser Scaup along the North Causeway and the Huron River mouth.


I stopped by the Long Pond to look for a Willet but did not see any shorebirds except a late-spring Dunlin still hanging around.

When I returned to the car I had to spend a good 20 minutes liberating the mayflies from the spotting scope and my own clothing. Still, a few managed to hitch a ride back to Brownstown where they found new homes on the front lawn.


Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 20, 2021 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
8.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Humid, 85F
8 species

Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  12
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  12
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  6
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  1     Mom on nest w/ 4 eggs in Middle Causeway.
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  2     Continuing. Bill length equals width of head, bright yellow legs. Calling "Tu" "Tu". Pumphouse mudflats
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)  1
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S159811489

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