All of the Tundra Swans - 26 Dec 2024
Morning drizzle and fog kept me from biking Pt. Mouillee. Clouds were still hanging around after lunch but skies were bright enough for an afternoon outing. Arriving at Siegler Rd. parking lot shortly after noon I headed out onto the North Causeway to look for birds.
The ground was soft and biking was difficult; I had to walk portions of the dike when biking became too difficult. Ice was covering the inland ponds of the Nelson and Long Pond Units and there were few birds around. Things changed when a Rough-legged Hawk flew over the units from the east and came close enough for documenting pics.
It flew to the south so I continued on toward the Vermet Unit. A thin raft of ducks floated far out in the Huron River but scope views showed mainly Mallard, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Canvasback, Redhead and Red-breasted Mergansers. I estimated 2600 duck sp.
Looking into the Vermet Unit I saw the largest concentration of Tundra Swans I had ever seen. Setting up the scope I made a rough count by 100's and came up w/ 3900. I'd find another 558 Tundra Swans in the NW corner of the Humphries Unit.
I would take a panorama of the flock and create stacks in Photoshop. Using the count tool in PS I came up with a total of 2700 plus the 558 for a 3300 Tundra Swan tally!
Equally impressive was the number of Mallard in the Vermet Unit. I estimated another 2200 Mallard along with a 100+ of American Black Ducks. No other duck species were among them.
I continued along the North Causeway around Cell 5 looking for Purple Sandpipers and found none. Cell 4 was iced over and only a few gulls were roosting on the ice. A Northern Harrier flew by as I approached the east shoreline of the Vermet. I'd see a second harrier a short distance later.
As I rode toward the Middle Causeway a pair of Bonaparte's Gulls were foraging along the shoreline of the Vermet Unit. Several dozen more were working the west shoreline of the unit.
I checked the small island in the middle of Cell 4 for a Snowy Owl but only found a single Red-breasted Merganser. Justin Labadie would later report a dead Snowy Owl on the rocks; this is the second owl that has died in the past week. So sad...
I rode the Middle Causeway west toward the Long Pond Unit and headed back toward the North Causeway back to the car. Along the way I spotted the Rough-legged Hawk hovering over the Nelson Unit so I hoofed it to try to get more pics.
The hawk dropped down into the phragmites next to the dike separating Nelson from Bloody Run Units so I walked along the dike hoping to get more pics. It rose up and hovered a short distance before flying back south. I managed a couple of pics before heading back to the car.
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Dec 26, 2024 1:06 PM - 3:18 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.448 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Cloudy, overcast, 38F, winds 5-10 from NE. Inland ponds mostly frozen. Lake Erie open.
26 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 280
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 42
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 3330 On ice in Vermet. Exact count from panoramas (5) using counting tool in PS. Photos 2700 in Vermet then counted another 558 in Humphries west .
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 1
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 2800 2600 in Vermet and rest in Huron River among BLDU, COGE, BUFF and LESC.
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 146
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 125
Redhead (Aythya americana) 120
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 2
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 32
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 120
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 420
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 125
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 32
duck sp. (Anatidae (duck sp.)) 2600 Huron River at mouth of Lake Erie. Mostly COGE, BUFF, MALL. Some CANV, REDH
American Coot (Fulica americana) 4
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 42
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 84
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) 34
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 2
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 3
Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) 1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) 16
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Dec 26, 2024 1:06 PM - 3:18 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.448 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Cloudy, overcast, 38F, winds 5-10 from NE. Inland ponds mostly frozen. Lake Erie open.
26 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 280
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 42
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 3330 On ice in Vermet. Exact count from panoramas (5) using counting tool in PS. Photos 2700 in Vermet then counted another 558 in Humphries west .
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 1
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 2800 2600 in Vermet and rest in Huron River among BLDU, COGE, BUFF and LESC.
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 146
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 125
Redhead (Aythya americana) 120
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 2
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 32
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 120
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 420
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 125
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 32
duck sp. (Anatidae (duck sp.)) 2600 Huron River at mouth of Lake Erie. Mostly COGE, BUFF, MALL. Some CANV, REDH
American Coot (Fulica americana) 4
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 42
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 84
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) 34
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 2
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 3
Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) 1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) 16
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
