New Life for Cell 3? - 28 Jul 2024

 

It had been almost a week since I last saw Cell 3 at Pt. Mouillee SGA. I was curious to see how the pumping of dredge material had affected water levels so I hitched the bike and headed to Monroe. Skies were partly sunny, temps were mid 70's and humid with just a light breeze. 

As I've done countless times this year I drove down Haggerman Road by the Antennae Farm from South Huron River Drive with the hopes of possibly spotting the Blue Grosbeak pair that are nesting again west of the fence line. Curiously, I checked the power lines overhead for a grosbeak but didn't see any. However, I suddenly heard the Blue Grosbeak song from nearby and looked back to find a male Blue Grosbeak singing from the same power lines! 

Getting out of the car I watched as the male Blue Grosbeak took off across the field to the south and land atop the junipers lining the house on the corner of Haggerman and Labo Roads. I took a few long-distance photos from the road and watched it fly off further to the south. 




Antenna Farm, Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 28, 2024 8:22 AM - 8:24 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Sunny 70F
7 species

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  24
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  6
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1
Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea)  1     Male on wire next to corner house on Labo and Haggerman. Heard singing then saw. Photos.
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S189230479

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

I continued on to the Mouillee Creek parking and decided to ride around the Walpatich Unit from west to east along the middle dike (closest to the Middle Causeway).  The first of 3 Green Herons appeared in the stubble as the marsh opened up to the east; I took a few digiscoped images and videos as they flew off. 

Shorebirds were thinning. Lesser Yellowlegs and Killdeer still appeared in good numbers but I only saw one Stilt Sandpiper and one Short-billed Dowitcher. As I reached the east shoreline I found a few Pectoral Sandpipers on the open mud flats but stopped to digiscope a pair of Mourning Doves beforehand.




As I digiscoped the pecs I began to be attacked by some annoyed Barn Swallows. To my right a pair of young Barn Swallows were saddled up on a phragmites stalk waiting to be fed. Apparently, I was too close for mom and dad.




Failing to find any more shorebirds of interest I began to head toward the Middle Causeway. A Common Yellowthroat was foraging just a few yards away so I tracked it for a few minutes.




The canal separating the Middle Causeway from the Long Pond Unit was showing some good mud flats as I rode by. I managed to find a single Short-billed Dowitcher foraging close enough to photograph with the Sony 600/4.



As I rode by the Vermet Unit I counted almost 200 Great Egrets and some 70 Great Blue Herons congregating together. 


Though it was still Sunday morning I could see puffs of smoke coming from the heavy equipment in Cell 3 of the Banana Unit and saw that a fresh barge had been brought in (the old was being towed out to Lake Erie). 

Bobby Irwin had mentioned that fresh mudflats were visible from the west side of Cell 3 so I took a walk down the path where dredge-pumping had commenced last week. I walked as far as the obvious mowing had occurred but didn't see any shorebirds this morning. Heading back to the bike I rode east to the Lake Erie shoreline and found that the dredge pipe was no longer blocking the road. I could ride around to the NE corner of Cell 3.

Just as I was getting ready to enter Cell 3 through the small path Justin Labadie showed up and we headed in together. Through the ground appeared dry still along the east side of Cell 3 the water was saturating the cracks in the mud enough that the ground felt really soft, so we did not venture in. Besides, Justin mentioned that the west side offered views of dozens of shorebirds from cutouts that were farther south had I kept walking south.

He was going to check the Lake Erie shoreline while I rode back to the NW corner and walked in to look for shorebirds. A pair of Indigo Buntings appeared just a few feet away, and the male was obliging enough for a few photos from 10' away.








I reached the phragmites and found a foot path into the west side of Cell 3 and found the cutouts that were previously-mentioned. Large expanses of mud were visible and the southernmost cutout showed a nice mix of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Stilt Sandpipers. I even managed to find a Wilson's Phalarope limping in and out of view among the emergent vegetation 200' away. 



Unfortunately, the marsh was backlit by the rising Sun so I'll have to check it out in the evening this week.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 28, 2024 8:32 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
7.759 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Sunny, humid, 76F, SW winds 5-10
47 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  92
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  26
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  6
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  5
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  15
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  19
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  5
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  36
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  12
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)  1
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  32
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  6
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  8
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  8
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  14
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  6
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  13
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  2
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  4
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  19
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  2
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  3
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  137
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  71
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  3
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  22
Purple Martin (Progne subis)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  4
Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)  3
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  15
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  3
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  7
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  11
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  3
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  2
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S189264477

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