Dunlin - 28 Mar 2023
The first Dunlin, Least Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs of the season were reported at Pt. Mouillee SGA on Sunday. I took the opportunity this morning to get out and look for them. With temps hovering near 30F, clear skies, and no wind, it was a perfect morning for a bike ride. Today's gear would include: Sony a1, 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens, Sony a9 and 45/2.5 lens (for digiscoping).
I parked at Mouillee Creek parking lot shortly after 7:30 am and headed out on the Middle Causeway. The sunrise was poking above the horizon already so everything in front of me would be severely backlit until I reach the Lake Erie shoreline. Case in point, a large raft of American Coot in the Humphries Unit just east of the Pumphouse appeared as dark silhouettes against the amber-colored waters. Ring-billed Gulls in the background included 1 or 2 Bonaparte's Gulls, but no shorebirds (I'd find one Dunlin on the return trip). There was a Sandhill Crane feeding nearby while Green-winged Teal swam quietly in the distance.
My first real views of Blue-winged Teal this spring came just moments later when a pair of drakes and a female were swimming next to shore just ahead of me. Unfortunately lighting was poor, but I made the best of it as they flushed and flew past me.
I turned inland toward the dike adjacent to the Long Pond Unit and found another teal swimming in the canal just west of the unit.
As I rode north along the dike separating the Long Pond and Vermet Units a pair of Northern Shoveler were beautifully illuminated in golden light.
Turning east along the North Causeway put me directly into the rising Sun so I kept my head low and rode. Lesser Scaup and Bufflehead were scattering from the Huron River shoreline but were too backlit to bother photographing. Horned Grebes started appearing with three birds swimming out from the shoreline; some already showing breeding plumage.
The first Black-crowned Night Herons of the spring flushed from the phragmites next to Cell 5 as I rode toward the NE corner. Black Ducks, more scaup and Common Mergansers flushed from Cell 5. When I finally reached the NE corner I could take a breath and give my eyes a rest; the Sun was finally / somewhat behind me.
Circling around the south side of Cell 5 I spotted a Common Loon near shore in the NE corner of Cell 4. I was able to get some pics as it swam out toward the middle of the cell.
In the NW corner of Cell 4 a small group of mostly Lesser Scaup were slow to leave the area upon approach.
Large numbers of Lesser and Greater Scaup continue to be present in the Vermet Unit. I came upon a group of scaup as I approached the east shoreline along the Banana Unit. They quickly scattered upon sight. I was able to get a few flight shots to verify the presence of Lesser Scaup; note the white on secondaries do not extend onto the primaries.
We're told to not rely on head color to ID scaup, and this individual illustrates. The rounded, green glossy head is good ID for Greater Scaup, but when flushed it showed the wing pattern of a Lesser Scaup. It also begs the question of hybrids among Lesser and Greater Scaup...
As I reached the Middle Causeway from the Banana I spotted a pair of Northern Pintail swimming in the shallows of the NE corner of the Humphries Unit. The female was tucked in close to shore while the drake posed nicely in the morning Sun.
Just a short distance away 14 Dunlin were sleeping / preening on a tiny spit of mud. I'd return to them after looping Cell 3.
Riding around to the NE corner of Cell 3 I marveled at the amount of field-clearing going on. What was once a sea of phragmites and woods is not a flattened field! Sadly, the pond in the middle of the unit appears to be gone.
As I reached the path separating Cells 3 and 2 a Song Sparrow appeared and offered a few pics in the morning sunlight.
The remaining portion of the path was lined with heavy construction equipment, so I rode back to the east dike of the Humphries and headed back to check out the Dunlin from the Middle Causeway.
It was nice to get some digiscoping in for a change. The Sony a9 w/ the RMT-P1BT Remote worked well. I took a digiscoped video (4K/120p) with playback at 50% speed of the Dunlin at 25X and 40X magnifications.
A good number of scaup, both Lesser and Greater were swimming pretty close to the causeway in the Humphries Unit, and with the Sun in a nice angle I took some more images. Here are some Greater Scaup. Note the white on the wings extending into the primaries relative to the Lesser Scaup in the 4th and 5th images.
Canvasback.
Stopping briefly at the Pumphouse I scoped the mudflats in the Humphries Unit and found a single Dunlin among the gulls and three Killdeer. The "Tu-Tu-Tu" of a Greater Yellowlegs alerted me to a single bird flying by and into the Sun.
Instead of heading straight back to the car I decided to make a quick loop around the Walpatich Unit north of the Middle Causeway. A half-dozen Blue-winged Teal and some of the best Bufflehead shots made the decision a good one. I even got a few flight shots of Ring-necked Ducks.
I returned to the car and headed home. Almost 12 miles ridden during a perfect morning!
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Mar 28, 2023 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
11.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear skies, 30F
25 species
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 10
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 12
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 4
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 6
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 20
Redhead (Aythya americana) 26
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 6
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 120
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 320
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 44
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 20
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 6
American Coot (Fulica americana) 85
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 3
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 15 f Dunlin at Pumphouse and group of 14 on mudflat in NE corner of Humphries. Photos.
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 6
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 34
Common Loon (Gavia immer) 1
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 4
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Mar 28, 2023 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
11.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear skies, 30F
25 species
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 10
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 12
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 4
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 6
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 20
Redhead (Aythya americana) 26
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 6
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 120
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 320
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 44
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 20
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 6
American Coot (Fulica americana) 85
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 3
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 15 f Dunlin at Pumphouse and group of 14 on mudflat in NE corner of Humphries. Photos.
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 6
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 34
Common Loon (Gavia immer) 1
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 4
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
