Last Day at Pt. Mouillee Summer 2024 - 31 Aug 2024

Pt. Mouillee SGA in Monroe Co., MI is set to close to the public on September 1st, so today was the last day to chase shorebirds. At 8:30 am skies were mostly sunny with low humidity and a mild breeze as I arrived at Mouillee Creek. Early morning storms left everything wet, however. 

I biked around to the north end of the Walpatich Unit and found only a few Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers. A Green Heron flushed from the near shoreline and flew out to the open mudflat containing dozens of European Starlings and Killdeer.

I headed back to the Middle Causeway and headed east toward the Vermet Unit where I had hoped to refind the Buff-breasted Sandpiper from Thursday. I was surprised to see the channels between the causeway and inner dikes (next to Bloody Run and Long Pond Units) flooded! I was even more surprised to see the Vermet Unit under water. It turns out that the DNR began flooding the units on Thursday morning; Ross Green told me that he went back to the Vermet after we saw the BBSP and found it filling with water back then.

The area where the Buff-breasted Sandpiper had been seen appeared to be flooded, so I continued east and scanned the open / dried fields still above water. Nothing of note. Tom Auer and Sean Bachman would later refind the Buffy in its original location closer to the causeway; had I looked I may have found it.

I rode to the Banana Unit and turned north to scan the east shoreline of the Vermet Unit and found a slew of shorebirds albeit scattered throughout the puddles and lily pads. The first notable find was this American Golden Plover. A second AGPL would be found just up the road a few dozen feet.

Note the gold-tipped feathers on the back and the dark cheek patch that extends down the side of the neck onto a buffy-brown "smudgy" collar. Bill is thin and elongate.

Compare with the Black-bellied Plover found just a short distance north of these birds. The cheek patch is barely noticeable behind the eye only. Chest lacks a collar and remaining black on the throat and chest is discrete (not smudgy); basic-plumaged birds will show a discrete necklace while AGPLs will retain the smudgy throat pattern. Bill is thicker and more stout in appearance.

A.J. and his friend was there, and Jim Fowler and Dave Washington soon joined us their car. We found dozens of Lesser Yellowlegs, a number of Pectoral Sandpipers, several White-rumped Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Least Sandpipers and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Several Ruddy Turnstones also turned up among the lily pads.

I spotted a Bonaparte's Gull in Cell 4 to my left and watched as it attempted to shake / remove a snail or clam that had latched onto its lower mandible. Good luck little fella!

Farther north along the dike we found a pair of Red Knots. Three more would be reported near the North Causeway by Ross Green, Don and Robyn Henise. 

I then headed back south to Cell 3 to look for the American Avocet that was reported this morning. I found Tom and Sean and joined them scoping the mudflats from the east side of Cell 3. The American Avocet was there along with several Stilt Sandpipers, dozens of Green-winged Teal, and a dozen or so mix of Long-billed Dowitchers and more Stilt Sandpipers. The five Ruddy Shelducks were also present.

With time running late I headed back down the Middle Causeway to look for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I spotted Bobby Irwin and Justin Labadie in the Vermet Unit a hundred yards or so away, so I stopped to scan the area. I was soon joined by Ross, Robyn and Don, Jim and Dave. In minutes we relocated one Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the shallow grass this side of the flooded fields. Don would see a second and possible third Buff-breasted Sandpiper before they disappeared into the stubble. Justin would report 4 birds a few minutes later.

With that I'd head back to the car and home. Tomorrow starts Hawk Watch Season at Detroit River Hawk Watch so I'll say farewell to Pt. Mouillee until December.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Aug 31, 2024 8:31 AM - 11:40 AM
Protocol: Traveling
8.868 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Pt cloudy, humid, 75F, 0-5 mph from s
58 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  24
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  1
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  4
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  4
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  1
American Wigeon (Mareca americana)  1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  36
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  24
Redhead (Aythya americana)  3
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  1
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  2
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  2
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2
Sora (Porzana carolina)  1
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  4
American Coot (Fulica americana)  2
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  4
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)  1
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)  1
American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)  3
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  34
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  6
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  6
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)  4     Basic plumage. May be as many as 7-10 in Cell 3 but Stilt Sandpipers mixed in sleeping flock of 14 birds.
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  46
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  20
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)  3
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  8
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis)  1
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)  1
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)  2
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  8
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  45
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  26
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  30
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  40
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  4
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  12
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  2
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  56
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  20
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)  1
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  6
Purple Martin (Progne subis)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  4
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  4
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  35
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  2
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S193402971

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