Gale-Force Birding - 27 Feb 2023
Another rain/sleet/ice storm is forecasted for "mid-day" today so I thought I'd make an early morning run to Pt. Mouillee SGA. I arrived at Mouillee Creek parking lot just before 7:30 am and the skies were starting to cloud up west of the horizon over Lake Erie.
Ony a couple groups of Bufflehead in the Humphries Unit were close enough to photograph from the Middle Causeway. This morning I was riding with the Sony a1 and 200-600mm f/5.6-63 G OSS and 1.4TC. I was glad I brought the lighter gear.
As I alternated between walking and riding I spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron overhead battling the winds.
A steady stream of Canvasback were flying between Lake Erie and the Humphries Unit, but most birds were very high up.
A Bald Eagle flying south was making use of a tail wind and soared right over me. The winds and dark skies still made it difficult to track.
I reached the junction of the Vermet, Humphries and Middle Causeway and was ready to turn back to the car. But, after a few minutes I decided to continue on at least to the Banana Unit in case there might be a Short-eared Owl or ducks in Cell 4 worth investigating. I walked the bike to the top of the hill and immediately saw no ducks on Lake Erie or in Cell 4. That made it easy to turn around and ride the winds back to the car.
At the junction of Long Pond and Bloody Run Units I spotted one of the Eastern Meadowlarks reported by Justin Labadie yesterday. I managed a few panning shots as it blasted by me and flew over the Humphries Unit. It was soon followed by a second meadowlark. I put together a composite image of the first bird out of the only images that came out.
It was only 8:40 am when I reached the car so I made a quick run down Roberts Rd. toward Rheaume Rd. A Bald Eagle and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks were riding the winds over the Stoneco Quarry so I grabbed a few quick images from inside the car.
Feb 27, 2023 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear to Pt Cloudy; rain/sleet/ice forecast for mid-day. Gale-force winds blowing!
7 species
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 200
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 6
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1 Middle Causeway next to Bloody Run Unit. Flying overhead. Adult. Photo.
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 2
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1
Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Haggerman Rd. only produced a couple of Horned Larks. However, just west of Labo Rd. I came upon two huge flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles with a few European Starlings mixed in.
A Red-tailed Hawk on the power lines just above them made a quick pounce into the ditch on the driver side of the car so I could only watch as it came up with a mouse or vole and fly up to the wire. As I approached it attempted to fly off a couple of times, but either one of its talons or the mouse/vole was clinging to the wire and prevented it from getting away. It finally flew off to the south.
With sleet and rain starting to fall onto the windshield I was glad I did not attempt to ride the North Causeway or the Lake Erie shoreline. The "mid-day" storm had arrived "mid-morning" and would dump 1-2" of rain by mid-afternoon. Time to head home and snuggle with kitties...
Antenna Farm, Monroe, Michigan, US
Feb 27, 2023 9:33 AM - 9:43 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Windy, cold, storm coming in.
5 species
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) 2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 300
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 200
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 50 Mixed with large flock of RWBB, and EUST
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
