Backlit Bonies - 08 Apr 2026

 

Skies were clear, winds were calm (here) but the temperature was an even 32ºF as I drove to Pt. Mouillee SGA. I'd arrive at the Mouillee Creek parking lot shortly before 8:30 am and find the winds already picking up. A half-dozen Great Egrets were enjoying the first rays of the sunrise in the west side of Mouillee Creek (relative to the Turnpike).

As I started riding the Middle Causeway I noticed that the dikes have been GRADED! Turning north along the west side of the Walpatich Unit the ground was soft and gravelly, and that meant a somewhat rough ride. I'd encounter graded dikes out to the Lautenschlager Unit, Middle Causeway, North Causeway and all dikes separating Lautenschlager, Nelson, Bloody Run and Long Pond Units. 

After checking the Lautenschlager Unit (water was high and duck numbers were down) I looped back to the Middle Causeway, then back north along the Bloody Run Unit. Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, and Lesser Scaup were seen along the way. 

The North Causeway put me in direct view of the Sun so I had to keep my head down until I reached the Lake Erie shoreline at Cell 5. Even then the glare was awful, but luckily the duck numbers in the Huron River were thin with the usual suspects: American Coot, Bufflehead, Canvasback and Lesser and Greater Scaup. 

As I approached the SE corner of Cell 5 a massive flock of Bonapartes Gulls (~300) were swimming and foraging along the shoreline of Lake Erie as NE winds produced large waves that crashed along the shore. Most of the gulls were severely backlit so it was difficult to get images w/o glare. Still, it didn't seem to affect them as they picked up minnows and larvae from the muddied waters. Lighting was not conducive for looking for a Little Gull among them.

I'd ride down to the construction site at Cell 5 (SW corner) and have to walk the bike through the heavy mud created by heavy construction equipment. It would take several more miles of riding to clear it from the tires. 

A stop at Cell 3 had me bushwacking through the emergent shrubs and mud to see if any mudflats were visible. Water levels were high and no mudflats could be seen as I walked about ¾ to the pond. The emergent vegetation was growing right up to the water's edge, the pond was empty, so I turned back and continued south along the Lake Erie shoreline.

I was unable to see the Red-throated Loon along Cells 2 and 1 so I'm assuming it has moved on. Otherwise the lake was choppy from the high winds. I would ride down around Cell 1 and return north along the west side of the Banana Unit. Rafts of Lesser Scaup

and Greater Scaup were swimming near the shoreline of the South Causeway so I was able to get few pics as they swam off.

Large rafts of American Coot, Lesser and Greater Scaup were also in the Humhpries Unit as I rode north back to the Middle Causeway, but too far out to photograph. I'd ride the Middle Causeway back to the car and head home shortly before 10:30 am. Its nice to see the dikes graded but its not fun for us bikers...

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 31), Monroe, Michigan, US
Apr 8, 2026 8:14 AM - 10:24 AM
Protocol: Traveling
13.184 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Clear, 32F, NE wind 10-20 put chop on Lake Erie.
44 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  26
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  46
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  4
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  36
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  26
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  34
American Wigeon (Mareca americana)  18
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  66
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  2
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)  2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  12
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  8
Redhead (Aythya americana)  2
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  36
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  8
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  240
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  440
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  18
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  2
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  2
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  8
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  6
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  6
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2
American Coot (Fulica americana)  320
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  2
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  10
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  350
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  22
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  2
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  2
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  6
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  9
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  2
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  220     Continuing Humphries Unit. Plus/minus 20.
Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  4
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  4
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  65
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  4
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S318725211

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