Windy Evening @ Pt. Mouillee - 07 Apr 2024
With rain forecasted this evening and clouds through tomorrow morning I took the opportunity for a Sunday evening bike ride at Pt. Mouillee SGA. Winds were blowing 15-25 mph so it was disconcerting, but I decided that I needed the exercise.
At 5:30 pm the winds were blowing out of the SE so at least I'd have the winds at my back on the way back to the car. In the meantime I had to push through the wind as I rode east along the Middle Causeway. American Coot were scattering by the dozen along the Mouillee Creek, Walpatich and Lautenschlager Units. A pair of Greater Yellowlegs were calling near the mud spit holding Caspian Terns, but I only saw Lesser Yellowlegs.
Tree Swallows were swarming the Walpatich Unit so I spent a few minutes trying to get images of them foraging over the water.
I headed north along the dike separating Lautenschlager and Nelson Units toward the North Causeway. A few American Tree Sparrows were scattering from the trail ahead of me, but one stopped nearby for a quick burst of images.
As I rode north a few ducks were scattering from the marsh on either side. For a brief moment I thought I had flushed a Canada Goose and Ross's Goose but when I put the camera on them they turned out to be a pair of Mallard with one all-white.
Reaching the North Causeway I headed east toward the Banana Unit. Ducks were on the Huron River and in the Vermet Unit but too harshly lit to ID. Most were scaup but a few Bufflehead and mergansers were present. I spotted the first of several Horned Grebes swimming close to shore.
Up ahead a small flock of ten American White Pelicans were flying across the waters of the Huron River. They would continue to fly as a group over the Vermet, Humphries, and even Mouillee Creek before the night was over.
With near white-caps on Lake Erie and a stiff in-shore wind blowing I was happy to get around to the north side of Cell 4. There the winds calmed and I could actually ride w/o fighting a head wind. I would stop at the junction with the Middle Causeway to look for Short-eared Owls (none) and try to get some flight shots of Greater Scaup flying east against darkening skies.
With winds now at my back I decided to head down the Middle Causeway back to the car. A scan of Cell 3 produced little activity so I opted not to push my luck.
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Apr 7, 2024 5:23 PM - 7:03 PM
Protocol: Traveling
8.823 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: SW winds 15-25 mph
33 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 72
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 83
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 2
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 8
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 14
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 22
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 2
Redhead (Aythya americana) 12
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 42
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 37
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 6
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 2
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 4
American Coot (Fulica americana) 122
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 8
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 4
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 2
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 8
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 4
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 8
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 13
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 2
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 2
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 10
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 6
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 1
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 64
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 8
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) 8
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 6
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 126
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
