All Hail The Dettling Brothers - 20 Jul 2025

Under mostly cloudy skies temperatures were hovering around 75ºF and high humidity. I drove down to the Mouillee Creek parking lot at 8 am with the intention of riding the bike out to the North Causeway and back south to Cell 3. 

The wind was quite calm as I rode around the west side of the Walpatich Unit. Willow Flycatcher, Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat and Marsh Wrens could be heard. The Unit itself was quiet with only a pair of Great Egrets sharing the tall dead tree in its middle. No shorebirds.

As I continued north and east I found a nice canal with exposed mudflats at the east edge of the Lautenschlager Unit. There I saw several Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, 20 Short-billed Dowitchers and 1 Stilt Sandpiper. Scope views only.

The ride to the North Causeway was uneventful, as was the trip south along the east shore of the Vermet Unit. The shoreline was still flooded with no exposed mudflats so its questionable whether this will produce the type of habitat that was present last summer.

I continued along the Banana Unit to Cell 3 east where I found 4 bikes belonging to Andy and Mark Dettling, their friend Ben (Richards?), and Linda Ar. As I hiked through the Smartweed/Lady's Thumb to where they were scoping Cell 3 I noticed that Linda was buried to her knees in the mud. 

She called out asking if I'd brought any boards with me, and sadly I hadn't. But, she was able to pull herself out of her boots and walk back to us wearing only socks. Attempts to approach the boots were met with sudden sinking so we didn't try to retrieve her boots.

Andy volunteered to go look for some boards and disappeared for about 15 minutes while Linda pondered next steps (literally). He returned carrying 3 large boards that he retrieved from the shoreline, and he and Mark were able to get out to the boots and pull them free. The second boot required one of the boards to dig it out (it was that stuck!).

Here's the video of them rescuing Linda's boots.

A grateful Linda received her boots from Andy and the morning was saved.

Meanwhile Cell 3 was active with 14 Stilt Sandpipers, a half dozen Short-billed Dowitchers, a dozen or so Lesser Yellowlegs, a pair of Northern Pintail (continuing), a Northern Shoveler (continuing), a Pectoral Sandpiper and a Dunlin nestled in the reeds. Interestingly, no Forster's or Black Terns were seen among the several dozen Caspian Terns and Ring-billed Gulls.

Linda showed me a video of the 3 baby Black-necked Stilts in Cell 2 so took off to look for them. I'd arrive at Cell 2 (west) and find the 4 adults, but it took some looking to finally find one of the baby stilts.

Three Stilt Sandpipers were nearby among several Short-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs. 

After grabbing a few photos I rode back to the Middle Causeway and west toward the parking lot and car. I didn't think I'd any photos other than Linda's boots so it was nice to get these birds.

All hail the Dettling Brothers!

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 20, 2025 8:27 AM - 11:12 AM
Protocol: Traveling
10.276 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Mostly cloudy, humid, 76F, NW 5-10mph; cell 3 muddy (beware).
45 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  85
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  1
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  12
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  1
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  7
Redhead (Aythya americana)  2
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  1
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  2
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  6
American Coot (Fulica americana)  2
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)  5     4 adults and 1 hatchling. Linda Ar recorded 3 babies in Cell 2.
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  10
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  1
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  32
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  4
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  16
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  18     1 in Lautenschlager, 14 in Cell 3 counted by Andy and Mark Dettling, and 3 more in Cell 2 west.
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)  1
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)  1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  12
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  2
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  2
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  16
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  6
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  2
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  1
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  8
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  4
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  4
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  1
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  5
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  15
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  4
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  6
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  3
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  60
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S261396590

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