Sterling Morning in the Rain - 25 Sep 2021
I had 30 minutes this morning to do some birding after dropping Robin off for a meeting at the Hampton Inn in Monroe. So, I drove across the street to Sterling State Park despite the heavy, low clouds and rain. A high-school cross-country meet was scheduled for the morning so cars and buses were lined up to get into the park. Luckily, the first parking lot was empty so I had the bike trail to myself.
A Solitary Sandpiper was preening on a mudflat near the parking lot edge so I was able to get some pics from about 50 feet away. I managed 1/100 second exposures at ISO 3200 and 840mm in the low light but still got a few keepers.
The bushes on either side of the trail had a nice mix of warblers: Yellow-rumped, Magnolia, Blackpoll and a Cape May. With the rain falling and the darker conditions I managed 1/30 second exposures. Here is where 30 fps on the Sony a1 saved me. I had to overcome the weight of 840mm, fast-moving warblers, and my own hand shake. I got lucky again...
The Yellow-rumped Warblers were most numerous and most cooperative.
The recently-reported Snowy Egret was not to be seen, and only Lesser Yellowlegs were present on the mudflats next to the parking lot.
Sterling SP, Monroe, Michigan, USSep 25, 2021 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
6 species
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) 1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 3
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) 2
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) 2
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 6
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
