Black Terns continue - 19 Jun 2024

I parked at Mouillee Creek this morning shortly before 7:15 am and biked onto the Middle Causeway. This week has been in the midst of a heat advisory with temps in mid-to-upper 90's and high humidity. This morning it was already 80F with little-to-no wind.

I looped north to the middle dike of the Walpatich Unit to check the marsh. Marsh Wrens and Swamp Sparrows were singing and Blue-winged Teal were flushing from the marsh to my left. As the marsh opened up a number of Great Egrets and Killdeer were foraging in the shallow waters and grassy mattes. A Bald Eagle was perched in the middle of the marsh atop the dead tree. I listened for a Sedge Wren but came up empty. No Yellow-headed Blackbird, either.

Continuing east toward the Banana Unit I rode next to the Bloody Run and Long Pond Units along the inner dike but found it mostly empty except for a pair of Sandhill Cranes in the Bloody Run. This family of Canada Geese were not happy w/ my presence as they, especially the little one, scampered for almost a half-mile ahead of me along the trail. I stopped several times to let them rest, but they never left the trail until we reached the Vermet Unit where they finally scampered into the water. 

I headed back to the Middle Causeway and rode between Vermet and Humphries Unit with the intention of going straight to Cell 3. I stopped only when I passed this large Green Frog sitting in the middle of the causeway. It paid me no mind even as I stopped the bike and set the 600/4 lens on the ground about 20' away from it to get some ground-level photos. 

Sensing that it was not well I approached the frog only to see it rise up on its haunches and settle back down. Reaching down I picked it up and it gave me no struggle. Worried that it may be dying or exhausted from a recent attack I carefully carried it back through the brush to the water's edge and set it down in a shallow matte of duckweeds. It barely moved, but stayed above water so I left it there to (hopefully) recover.

Just up the road I spotted what I thought was a Mink, but it turned out to be a Ground Hog. 

I parked the bike at the north end of Cell 3 and again waded through a mass of Lady's Thumb to reach the mudflats. A large flock of mostly Ring-billed Gulls were roosting near the north end of the cell and scoping revealed a number of Forster's Terns, immature and adult Herring Gulls, and a pair of Common Terns. I looked for the reported Iceland Gull but couldn't find it. I also did not find any candidates for immature Great Black-backed Gulls. 

A scan of the water's edge revealed only 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers this morning. Again, no American White Pelicans were in Cell 3 and I'd only see a single fly-over pelican to the south. A few Blue-winged Teal, a Green-winged Teal, several Ruddy Ducks and Mallard were swimming in the open waters.

Nearer to shore a small group of 4 Bonaparte's Gulls, a pair of Common Terns and six Black Terns were roosting on the mudflats in their usual spot. I hiked over to the small patch of willows growing in the mud and used them as a blind to photograph the terns as they circled and flew by.

My favorite pics came when they'd land to feed several young birds nearby.

Just before leaving I captured a Forster's Tern flying by close enough to photograph. 

As I walked back to the bike I ran into Amber Piotter who had just arrived. We chatted and she decided it wasn't worth the hike to scope the few birds remaining on the mud flats. We rode back to the Walpatich Unit together before splitting up; she heading to the Walpatich to bird and me to the car to head home. 

I had to spend some time de-Mayfly before driving home. The little guys did not want to leave their roosting spots on my clothes and scope pack...

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jun 19, 2024 7:26 AM - 9:26 AM
Protocol: Traveling
7.004 mile(s)
45 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  60
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  2
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  1
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  2
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  2
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  36
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  2
Redhead (Aythya americana)  4
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  1
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  5
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  2
American Coot (Fulica americana)  3
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  2
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  8
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  1
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  5     Continuing in Cell includes one w broken wing.
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  4
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  43
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  5
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  8
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  6
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  14
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)  4
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  2
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  6
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  4
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  1
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  1
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  4
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)  2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  35
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  4
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  45
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S182433506

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)