Shorebird Season Winding Down - 29 Aug 2026

Only two more days until Point Mouillee SGA is closed for the fall hunting season. Recent reports of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the Nelson Unit and Whimbrel along the Middle Causeway prompted me to take a ride this morning. I'd be sharing the morning with Macomb, Jackson and Detroit Audubon tours.

 

I parked at the Siegler Rd. parking lot with the idea of looking for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper along the North Causeway. I saw mowed grass along the north end of the Nelson Unit but didn't see any open field. A Cooper's Hawk in the grass had me wondering if the BBSP had been scared off. But, when I turned south and followed the grassy dike along the east side of the Nelson Unit and it curved back west and dead-ended at the plowed/planted field. 

I spent some time scanning the field, finding dozens of Killdeer, European Starling, and Horned Larks before getting a call from Patrick Jakel. He was with the Macomb Audubon group along the south end of the Nelson Unit scoping me at the north end of the plowed field. We'd call each other if the Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found, and minutes later I got a call from him that the bird was in their scope views. It would take me a few minutes more to find it, but I finally got it in the scope.

I'd follow the BBSP for several minutes before losing sight of it, then re-finding it. The Macomb group was heading on while I decided to stay for a few more minutes, but then lost the bird and headed out, myself. My original plan was to continue back to the Middle Causeway to look for the Hudsonian Whimbrel, but following the tour groups was not my idea of success so I headed back to the North Causeway and headed east toward the Banana.

Heading south along the west side of the Banana was fruitless; there were no birds along the Vermet Unit shoreline. I'd see a pair of Savannah Sparrows ahead of me on the dike, but little else. I stopped at the NW corner of Cell 4 hoping to see a Buff-breasted Sandpiper among the dozens of Killdeer hanging out in the construction field but saw only Killdeer.

I'd continue south toward Cell 3 but decided not to continue when I saw a long line of cars parked at the shepherd's hook. Jim Fowler, Darlene Friedman and Barb Baldinger were hanging back so I chatted with them for a few minutes. They reported the Hudsonian Whimbrel just west of the Banana along the Middle Causeway so I turned back and headed off to look for it.

Sure enough, I spotted it halfway along the Vermet Unit and managed to get a couple of long-distant photos before it took off and circled around me before landing behind me to the east.

The Hudsonian Whimbrel was skittish. I followed it back and forth a couple of times but it kept flying off and landing in the direction opposite of my forward motion, so I didn't stick aroud.

I headed back to the Walpatich Unit, made a loop, then returned back to the North Causeway to the parking lot where I packed up and headed home. 

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 31), Monroe, Michigan, US
Aug 29, 2026 8:09 AM - 10:17 AM
Protocol: Traveling
7.573 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Clear, mild, breezy, 70F
35 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  24
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  2
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  1
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  2
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  3
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  62
Hudsonian Whimbrel (Numenius hudsonicus)  1     Middle Causeway just west of Banana. Continuing. Pipping in flight. Pics
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  2
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  3
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)  1
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis)  1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  2
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)  1
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  1
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  14
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)  1
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  2
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  72
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  6
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  9
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1
Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)  4
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  14
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  1
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  4
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  32
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S387937126

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