Shorebird Season Winding Down - 28 Aug 2025

Skies were mostly cloudy but calm this morning when I left the house at 7 am. Temperature was 55ºF but winds were calm as I drove to Pt. Mouillee SGA. Sunday is the last day the SGA is open to the public so I'm making the most as I can. My plan was to ride directly to Cell 3 from the Mouillee Creek parking lot, then ride back to check out the Lautenschlager Unit.

As I rode the Rad Expand 5 e-Bike along the Middle Causeway I saw Andy Dettling returning from Cell 3. He did not have good news, "All of the shorebirds except for the dowitchers are gone, and the golden plovers just flew off". Bummer. But, I decided I'd check it out and report out if anything returned. He had not seen the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that continued yesterday.

I arrived at Cell 3 and hiked out to the mudflats. True to his word the only life seen were the 3-dozen Caspian Terns, couple dozen Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, and a handful of Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers. Otherwise the mudflats were empty. I decided I'd still hike out to check for Sora and possibly the Buff-breasted Sandpiper if it were still in the area.

As I set up the scope along the west side of Cell 3 (as far as dry mud would allow) I scanned the mudflats. Several Killdeer were foraging along the west side of the mudflats along with a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs. The dowitchers were huddled along the south shore of the Cell and just starting to come out to forage. In front of me a Least Sandpiper and a Pectoral Sandpiper appeared. That Pec looked an awful lot like a Baird's Sandpiper if it not were for the yellow legs and orange-brown back feathers.

I scanned the west shoreline and found the first of 5 Sora (2 adult and 3 juveniles) foraging close to the phragmites lining the calm waters that ended there.

Three White-tailed Deer appeared as I scanned the north side of the mudflats for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper (no show). The velvet bucks looked handsome in the morning Sun.

I returned to scanning the mudflats and saw a nearby Semipalmated Plover giving me stink-eye.

Shorebirds were slowly starting to trickle in. A half-dozen Semipalmated Sandpipers flew in, and as I followed them with the scope I saw a Wilson's Phalarope foraging next to several Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs.

By now the dowitchers were foraging in open water and close enough to photograph with the 600/4 in APS-C mode (1270mm EFL). Long-billed Dowitchers were visibly gray while the Short-billed Dowitchers still showed color.

The Northern Pintail reappeared after being MIA for a week or two.

The dowitchers were scattered in several places.

I managed to get a pair of birds flying in close enough to ID as Long-billed Dowitchers (note the white forewings generally dark on the SBDO). 

What was most obvious was the severe wing molt that indicated that these birds are around for a while longer; they can't migrate in this condition.

After a while I was getting ready to pack up when six Pectoral Sandpipers flew in and landed nearby. They flushed after several minutes and I managed some flight shots as they circled nearby.

I headed back to the bike and rode back down the Middle Causeway toward the Lautenschlager Unit. By now the winds were starting to pick up and clouds were moving in. Rain is forecasted for later this morning...

Arriving at the Lautenschlager Unit I immediately saw the massive flock of American White Pelicans swimming and flying and roosting along the west shoreline. Andy had reported 350 birds earlier, and I estimated about 250 in my conservative count.

This is a panorama of the birds roosting along the far shore.

As I came to the southern tip of the mudflats next to the east shoreline I could see the mass of pelican feathers floating on the shallow waters next to the mudflats. With the Sun shining it looked like feathers resting on ice! 

The tip of the mudlflat held a couple dozen Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers, and a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes. They were close enough to get some nice pics from the shoreline.

Having suddenly taken an interest in the bill length of the Pectoral Sandpipers I couldn't resist a few photos of the nearby birds.

I'd been hoping to find an American Golden Plover after reports of several birds were seen yesterday, so I was very happy to see one near the tip of the mudflats, as well.

This juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs was practically foaging at my feet so I turned the camera on it.

And, I made sure to get a reference photo or two of a Greater Yellowlegs (adult) for reference.

Finally, this Semipalmated Sandpiper (juvenile) came close enough for a few pics before I hopped on the bike and headed back to the car.

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 15), Monroe, Michigan, US
Aug 28, 2025 7:20 AM - 9:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.8 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, windy, cool, 55F.
43 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  65
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  6
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  22
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)  1
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  34
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2
Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)  1
Sora (Porzana carolina)  5     2ad and 3 juv on W side Cell 3 continuing
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  6
American Coot (Fulica americana)  14
American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)  1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  13
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  3
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  36
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)  24     Cell 3 continue
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)  3     1 in Cell 3 and 2 in Lautenschlager.
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  14
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  3
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)  1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  8
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  11
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  13
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  4
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  13
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  4
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  32
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  2
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  6
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  34
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  6
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  250     Lautenschlager. Continuing.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  4
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  2
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  2
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  36
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  126
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  14
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  23
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  66

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S269991663

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