Early Staging @ Mouillee - 23 Feb 2024
Morning arrived with clear skies, no winds, and temps hovering near 40F. I arrived at Mouillee Creek at 9 am and unloaded the bike. A cacophony of singing Red-winged Blackbirds greeted me at the parking lot and were joined by several Song Sparrows, Northern Flicker and Downy Woodpecker.
Heading out along the Middle Causeway I found the inland ponds already free of ice. And waterfowl; only a pair of Bufflehead were seen in the Walpatich and Lautenschlager Units. Luckily, a band of Tundra Swans were swimming in Mouillee Creek and gave me something to photograph.
As they scampered toward the Humphries Unit I saw a lone Bald Eagle standing sentry atop the island to the south of the Pumphouse.
I continued east along the causeway when the first of 200+ American White Pelicans appeared as a small flock approaching from the SE. I was fortunate that they passed overhead before flying into the Humphries Unit to the south.
As I headed north between the Long Pond and Vermet Units toward the North Causeway I was alerted to the whistles of Tundra Swans flying toward the Huron River.
As I reached the North Causeway I came upon two large rafts of scaup, Redhead, a few Canvasback and several Ring-necked Ducks. I photographed the first raft and found it to contain almost exclusively Lesser Scaup as evidenced by their peaked crowns, purple tinge to head feathers, and white feathers limited to secondaries when viewed in flight. By contrast these Ring-necked Ducks lack white secondary feathers when viewed in flight.
The Lesser Scaup showed nicely in the morning sunlight.
In flight note the white feathers on the outer secondary feathers while the primaries remain dark.
Note how the white feathers extend onto the primaries of these Greater Scaup in flight. Their heads are more rounded and have more of a green sheen. The second raft of ducks appeared to be a mix of Greater and Lesser Scaup. I would make it a point to photograph both flocks so that I could get an accurate count of all species involved. I was glad that I did because my initial estimates were 400 and 450 in both flocks. Counts, however, put numbers at over 1000 apiece.
The Huron River was empty of ducks at the mouth of Lake Erie. Lake Erie itself was empty of waterfowl, as well. With ducks in Cell 5 (mostly Mallard and Canada Geese) I suspected that ducks have moved inland off of Lake Erie to begin staging for the ultimate trip north. These Common Mergansers were heading inland off the lake; photographing them was difficult due to severe backlighting.
I looped around Cell 5 and continued to see an empty Lake Erie. The north end of Cell 4 was also empty. As I approached the Vermet Unit from the east I saw a massive white flock of American White Pelicans roosting around Pelican Island.
I put the scope on the flocks and counted a whopping 154 birds! I would also notice a long raft of several thousand ducks leading to the north as I panned from left to right. I decided to take a digiscoped video of the raft for counting purposes; twelve hours later I would tally 7000+ ducks of mixed scaup, Redhead, Canvasback, Gadwall, and Northern Pintail!
I continued south along the Banana to Cell 3 where I spotted a nice mix of dabbling ducks including Northern Pintail and Northerns Shovelers, Gadwall and American Wigeon.
A Green-winged Teal was a nice find!
The American Wigeon (center) shows a white patch above black while the Gadwall show white below the black on their wings.
Lake Erie would continue to be void of ducks all the way down to the path between Cells 1 - 2. I would scatter a couple hundred Mallard as I rode along Cells 3 and 2 and suspected more in Cell 1 but it was time to head back to the Middle Causeway and the car.
I'd find another 110 American White Pelicans in the NW corner of the Humphries Unit to go along with the 150+ birds still in the Vermet. Spring is here!
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Feb 23, 2024 8:55 AM - 11:37 AM
Protocol: Traveling
16.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Sunny, 40F, no wind, inland ponds open. Ducks staging in Vermet and Humphries. Lake Erie void of ducks, Cells 2 - 3 have ducks, none in Long Pond, Nelson, Walpatich and Lautenschlager Units of significance. Digiscoped video taken of massive raft in Vermet Unit yielded 7344 total ducks; individual fields-of-view of vide were counted to give Total per FOV. Ducks Identifiable within field of view were then counted with unidentified ducks marked as duck species. Video viewable at: https://youtu.be/_EJOHTIADyQ?s
29 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 69
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 134
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 37
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 52 16 in Vermet Unit and 36 in Cell 3
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 223 120 in Cell3 w 2 doz Mallard and dozen Pintail. Count bt 2’s. Another dozen in NW Humphries. 80 in Vermet Unit (counted from digiscoped video from individual fields-of-view)
American Wigeon (Mareca americana) 3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 436 186 in Cells 3 and 2, Humphries Unit, and 250 in Vermet Unit counded from digiscoped video field-of-view by FOV.
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 2
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 42 16 in Humphries and Cell 3, and 26 in Vermet Unit counted from video taken (FOV by FOV).
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 1 Flushed from NE corner of Cell 3. Small teal among Gadwall and American Wigeon.
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 517 9 in Huron River and rest in Vermet Unit (counted from digiscoped video FOV by FOV.
Redhead (Aythya americana) 1776 Exact count (71) from photos of 2 large rafts on Huron River. Remaining 1705 counted from digiscoped video of duck raft in Vermet Unit (FOV by FOV). Only ID"d those ducks identifiable as Redhead (remaining counted as duck sp.)
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 50 4 in Huron River and 46 in Vermet Unit (counted from digiscoped video FOV by FOV).
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 658 Exact count from frame-by-frame photos of 2 large rafts in Huron River. 2nd raft was ~50:50 Lesser and Greater Scaup; this count from the 2nd raft.
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 2289 2289 counted from frame-by-frame photos of 2 large rafts in Huron River. 1st raft exclusively Lesser Scaup, 2nd raft ~50:50 Lesser and Greater.
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis) 3104 Large raft of scaup sp. in Vermet Unit was recored via digiscoped video. FOV-by-FOV counts produced 3104 scaup species believed to be mainly Lesser Scaup but too far away to verify if Greater Scaup are present.
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 100 12 in Huron River and 88 in Vermet Unit counted from digiscoped video FOV by FOV
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 68 30 in Huron River and 38 in Vermet Unit counted from digiscoped video
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) 6
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 78 19 in Huron River and 59 in Vermet Unit counted from digiscoped video
duck sp. (Anatidae (duck sp.)) 1311 Digiscoped video of large raft in Vermet Unit was counted FOV by FOV. Total ducks per FOV minus identifiable species left individual totals of duck sp. not easily ID'd to species.
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 4 4 in flight and bugling over Humphries toward Bad Creek Unit.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 144
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 90
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 254 Exact count by two’s clustered around pelican island in Vermet plus another 100 in Humphries
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) 30
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 15
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Feb 23, 2024 8:55 AM - 11:37 AM
Protocol: Traveling
16.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Sunny, 40F, no wind, inland ponds open. Ducks staging in Vermet and Humphries. Lake Erie void of ducks, Cells 2 - 3 have ducks, none in Long Pond, Nelson, Walpatich and Lautenschlager Units of significance. Digiscoped video taken of massive raft in Vermet Unit yielded 7344 total ducks; individual fields-of-view of vide were counted to give Total per FOV. Ducks Identifiable within field of view were then counted with unidentified ducks marked as duck species. Video viewable at: https://youtu.be/_EJOHTIADyQ?s
29 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 69
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 134
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 37
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 52 16 in Vermet Unit and 36 in Cell 3
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 223 120 in Cell3 w 2 doz Mallard and dozen Pintail. Count bt 2’s. Another dozen in NW Humphries. 80 in Vermet Unit (counted from digiscoped video from individual fields-of-view)
American Wigeon (Mareca americana) 3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 436 186 in Cells 3 and 2, Humphries Unit, and 250 in Vermet Unit counded from digiscoped video field-of-view by FOV.
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 2
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 42 16 in Humphries and Cell 3, and 26 in Vermet Unit counted from video taken (FOV by FOV).
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 1 Flushed from NE corner of Cell 3. Small teal among Gadwall and American Wigeon.
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 517 9 in Huron River and rest in Vermet Unit (counted from digiscoped video FOV by FOV.
Redhead (Aythya americana) 1776 Exact count (71) from photos of 2 large rafts on Huron River. Remaining 1705 counted from digiscoped video of duck raft in Vermet Unit (FOV by FOV). Only ID"d those ducks identifiable as Redhead (remaining counted as duck sp.)
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 50 4 in Huron River and 46 in Vermet Unit (counted from digiscoped video FOV by FOV).
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 658 Exact count from frame-by-frame photos of 2 large rafts in Huron River. 2nd raft was ~50:50 Lesser and Greater Scaup; this count from the 2nd raft.
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 2289 2289 counted from frame-by-frame photos of 2 large rafts in Huron River. 1st raft exclusively Lesser Scaup, 2nd raft ~50:50 Lesser and Greater.
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis) 3104 Large raft of scaup sp. in Vermet Unit was recored via digiscoped video. FOV-by-FOV counts produced 3104 scaup species believed to be mainly Lesser Scaup but too far away to verify if Greater Scaup are present.
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 100 12 in Huron River and 88 in Vermet Unit counted from digiscoped video FOV by FOV
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 68 30 in Huron River and 38 in Vermet Unit counted from digiscoped video
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) 6
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 78 19 in Huron River and 59 in Vermet Unit counted from digiscoped video
duck sp. (Anatidae (duck sp.)) 1311 Digiscoped video of large raft in Vermet Unit was counted FOV by FOV. Total ducks per FOV minus identifiable species left individual totals of duck sp. not easily ID'd to species.
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 4 4 in flight and bugling over Humphries toward Bad Creek Unit.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 144
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 90
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 254 Exact count by two’s clustered around pelican island in Vermet plus another 100 in Humphries
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) 30
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 15
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
