Skies were partly clear this morning, and temperature was hovering near 18ºF with very little wind. So I decided it was a good time to take the bike to Pt. Mouillee SGA to check trail and ice-out conditions.
Haggerman Road was (finally) clear so I took a drive by the Antennae Farm to see if anything was around (only a single Horned Lark). I was glad the ground was frozen because ruts indicated a soft road and I didn't want to get stuck.
I then drove to the Mouillee Creek parking lot and unloaded the Rad 5 ebike and headed out onto a dry and open Middle Causeway. Red-winged Blackbirds could be heard singing their "Konk-La-Riiii" call and I was able to photograph my first of the year along the west side of the Walpatich Unit.
I'd run into another a short distance later, and count up to 60 birds by the time the morning ended.
Inland pond were still frozen but there were signs that a thaw was soon to come. I made it a point to get some photos of the various units as I rode by them.
Walpatich Unit.
Lautenschlager Unit.
Nelson Unit.
Vermet Unit.
I rode the dike north to the North Causeway and was pleasantly surprised to see the Huron River in front of the Pt. Mouillee HQ open and loaded with hundreds of Canada Geese, Mallard, and scattered Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Bufflehead, Gadwall, and even Northern Pintail!
As I rode east along the North Causeway I came across roosting Mute Swans and Tundra Swans.
Another large raft of ducks were farther out on the edge of melting ice and consisted mainly of Mallard but a few American Black Duck and Gadwall were among them.
Reaching the Banana Unit meant having to ride over some last snow-drifts and iced-over puddles but navigation was doable. Along the Lake Erie shoreline I was surprised to find the lake open with just ice along the shoreline.
A few Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye scattered from the shoreline ahead of me, but the majority of ducks were staging near the mouth of the river closer toward the HQ.
Bald Eagle.
American Black Ducks.
Mallard and Gadwall.
On the east side of Cell 5 a few large icebergs could be seen near the shoreline.
As part of the ride I was hoping to find a Snowy Owl or Short-eared Owl. I'd find neither, but was happy with a consolation prize: American Kestrel on the dirt pile at the north end of Cell 3.
Long-distance photos were needed to ID the little falcon, but luckily it flew past me when it took off.
The remainder of the ride, along the east side of Cells 3 and 2, west to Humphries, back north to the Middle Causeway, and west back to the car was spent TRYING NOT TO FREEZE. The windchill was in single-digits and my fingers, face and knees were numb. The Middle Causeway between Vermet and Humphries Unit was still heavy with snow, ice and ruts so it was a challenge to navigate the drifts with frozen digits.
I eventually reached the car and got the bike back in, but my hands were so frozen they felt like they were broken. I had to drive home using my wrists until my hands stopped hurting enough to grab the steering wheel again.
It was a good ride, and it was nice to see the blackbirds return. And the ice beginning to melt.
Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 31), Monroe, Michigan, US
Feb 24, 2026 8:28 AM - 10:07 AM
Protocol: Traveling
10.688 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Mostly cloudy, breezy, 22F, Lake Erie open, Huron River open by HQ, frozen to mouth, inland units frozen.
21 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 400 Conservative estimate in open water next to HQ. Original estimate 1200.
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 120
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 40
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 600 By 50’s. In open water next to HQ.
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 4
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 5
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 250
Redhead (Aythya americana) 150
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis) 200
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 12
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 35
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 40
American Coot (Fulica americana) 209 Raft in open water next to Cell 4 inlet. Count by 10’s.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 4
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) 4
Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii) 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) 6
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
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