Fall Shorebirding is Underway! - 08 Jul 2025

This afternoon I drove to Pt. Mouillee to bike the Banana Unit to Cell 3. It was mostly clear, humid and hot at 81ºF with a light 5-10 mph wind blowing from the SW. Amber Piotter had reported a Yellow-breasted Chat on Roberts Road and shorebirds in Cell 2. It was an opportunity for me to get out and check Cells 2 and 3.

I made a pass down Haggerman Road past the Antenna Farm on the way to Pt. Mouillee. I was disheartened to see that the prairie growing along Haggerman Road to the fence line had just been mowed and another 20 ft inside the fence line was being mowed. Ugh. At least the Dickcissels were still being heard inside the fence line.

As I drove to east end of Haggerman Road I followed an Osprey carrying a carp to the nest at the corner of US Turnpike and Port Sunlight Rd. The other adult was on the nest with at least one chick.

Antenna Farm, Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 8, 2025 5:02 PM - 5:06 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.926 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Sunny, humid breezy 81F. Crews mowing prairie from Haggerman to fence and 20ft inside.
4 species

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  3
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  4
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S258189821

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

I then drove to the north end of Roberts Road and slowly cruised the road southward toward Amber's pin (see Discord) that was located right at the point where the cement road reaches dirt road. The usual Yellow Warblers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Warbling Vireos, and Indigo Buntings were being heard, but the Yellow-breasted Chat was not. So I continued south to the parking lot where I unloaded the bike and headed out onto the South Causeway.

The pond at the NW corner of Cell 1 was quiet except for a pair of Pied-billed Grebes. At the SW corner of Cell 2 the duckweed-covered fluddle was free of shorebirds. 

A pair of Common Gallinules were foraging in the open a bit farther north, and as I approached a Solitary Sandpiper flushed. A small flock of Lesser Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitchers then flushed from the flooded phragmites and circled a few times before settling down out of site. 

A Great Blue Heron quietly foraging about 50' in from the road was suddenly attacked by an angry Black-necked Stilt that circled overhead several times before settling back down in an open patch even farther inside the Cell. 

Up ahead a small opening in the phragmites revealed a shallow fluddle that held several Lesser Yellowlegs and a couple of dowitchers, and as I approached they lifted off and alerted another 3-dozen birds to join them. 

I quickly grabbed the Sony a1 + 600/4 lens and took aim at the dowitchers to get some flight shots. This time of the summer most all dowitchers are expected to be "hendersoni" Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus hendersoni) with Long-billed Dowitchers showing up in early August. As expected all of the dowitchers I photographed and observed were L. g. hendersoni. Note the orange, relatively spot-free chest and neck and orange that extends onto the flanks and undersides. Also note the scalloped "armpits" of the open-winged birds; on a Long-billed Dowitcher their armpits are clean white and appear as "headlights" in flight. Check out my blog post on dowitcher ID from a few years back.

Note also that the tail bands are equally black-and-white in SBDO while in LBDO the black bands are thicker and give the tail a darker overall appearance in flight.

I would count up to six dozen Lesser Yellowlegs in this area and in Cell 3. Their loud "Tu-Tu" call in flight is diagnostic, as is the their bill length that is equal to the width of the head. Greater Yellowlegs will call "TU-TU-TU" in flight and have bills that are slightly recurved and up to 1.5X the width of their head. 

It was nice to also see a half-dozen Least Sandpipers among them. Their overall brown coloration ID them as worn adults and yellow feet confirm ID.

Another pair of Black-necked Stilts appeared several hundred feet from the first one and they took offense to my presence. They circled me several times and called loudly "BET-BET-BET-BET" before disappearing back into the phragmites.

Farther north a break in the phragmites revealed an open fluddle that held a nice mix of Blue-winged Teal, Mallard, and a pair of American Black Duck. This poor teal has seen some blunt-force trauma on his bill.

Nearby Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers were quietly watching me on the road. 

I spotted yet another Black-necked Stilt foraging close by the road. It protested my presence but never flushed.

I heard the squeaky call of a couple Black Terns and was delighted to see one of them make a pass close by. The adults are already starting their pre-basic molt.

As I walked the bike along the length of the fluddle I spotted the first of a pair of Stilt Sandpipers. This one was chumming with a dowitcher and the two seem to be inseparable. They flushed but returned to the same spot together. 

But, clearly the Lesser Yellowlegs outnumbered the other shorebirds.

Amber had reported that the engineers were done pumping dredging into Cells 2 - 3, and sure enough, they had all-but packed up and left the north end of Cell 3. The barge was gone, and the piping had been retrieved and piled up for next year's projects. 

I rode around to the SE corner of Cell 3 and entered the mudflats from the opening in the ditch. Vegetation has exploded and the Lady's Thumbprint monoculture has grown in some places to over 5' in height. In order to get to the west side of Cell 3 where I could survey the shorebird population I would need to get the Sun behind me, but that meant disappearing into the vegetation mass.

The ground was soft but walkable and the vegetation provided extra security from inadvertently sinking into the mud. But I thought to myself that if I did fall, have a heart attack, or get stuck that it would be winter before anyone found me...

But, the vegetation thinned toward the center of the Cell and I could see a massive gull roost to the north and another next to the receding waterline to the south. Among them were a couple dozen Caspian Tern, a dozen Forster's Terns, and 16 Black Terns!

As I reached the west side of the Cell the pair of Black-necked Stilts appeared ready for a fight. They approached overhead and circled loudly while I quickly scoped the dozens of waterfowl, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpipers, Killdeer, and a single Pectoral Sandpiper. Lighting was horrible so I didn't attempt any photos but tried to spot the stilt chicks that Amber reported this morning; I dipped.

I didn't stay long and made a bee-line through the vegetation for the east shoreline and managed to come out next to my bike, where I'd head back to the car via the Lake Erie shoreline. I'd see a few Killdeer along the east side of Cell 2 but little else.

I returned to the car and drove back to the chat spot but could not hear anything. I continued on home.

Nice to see the Fall Shorebird Migration well underway. And the Halloween Pennants that are always fun to photograph.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Jul 8, 2025 5:15 PM - 7:21 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.518 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Sunny, humid 80F light wind 5mph from SW
47 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  120
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  65
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  6     2 in SW corner of Cell 2 and 4 in Cell 3. The two in Cell 2 were males w/ dark bodies, grayish-tan heads and bright yellow bills. The 4 in Cell 3 were together, similar in appearance to the ones in Cell 2, and showed purple speculums when flexing (though not a discrete ID mark the coloration supported the ID).
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  6
Redhead (Aythya americana)  2
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  3
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)  6     4 in w side of Cell 2 and pair in Cell 3.
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  13
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  48     Cell 2 with 3 dozen counted in flight and another dozen in Cell 3.
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  2
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  120
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  1
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)  2
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)  1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  34
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  1
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  8
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  450
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  120
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  18
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)  18
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  15
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)  3
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  2
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  2
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  1
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  2
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  4
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  1
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  3
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  2
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  2
Purple Martin (Progne subis)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  2
Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  8
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  34
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S258213190

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