Pte Mouillee Saturday - Western Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Snowy Egret

[Don Henise]

Birding was good at Pte. Mouillee State Game Area Saturday morning. The hot
spot, as has been the case recently, was cell three. A very colorful
Buff-breasted Sandpiper was hanging out in the dry mud flats near several
killdeer. We spotted a Western Sandpiper in winter plumage near the eastern
dike. This bird stood out from the Semipalmated Sandpipers that were nearby
with a much longer, slightly drooping and pointier bill. Most of the
Semipalmated Sandpipers today were browner immature birds and the western
was pale gray. The bird also appeared to be just slightly larger than the
Semipalmateds. 

Other shorebirds in cell three were Semipalmated Plovers, Greater and Lesser
Yellowlegs, 1 Ruddy Turnstone, Least Sandpiper, several Baird's Sandpipers,
Pectoral Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, and Short-billed Dowitchers.

We saw a Snowy Egret in the lead unit from the dike along cell 3. Three
Black-bellied Plovers were in the vermet unit. We heard from Adam Byrne and
Caleb Putman that there were 5 Long-billed Dowitchers seen earlier in the
morning and they also had a Red Knot in the south end of the lead unit near
the Roberts Road entrance.





Don & Robyn Henise
 
Librarians
New Tribes Bible Institute
Jackson, MI
don_henise at ntm.org