We had a perfect day for a ride down to Monroe County for our annual Shorebird trip at Pt. Mouillee State Game Area.   In addition to the great weather, we had the best shorebirds in years, by far.  Ross led our small caravan on the dikes to the best mudflats there had been at Pt. Moo for a long time. 

Not long into the tour we saw lots of American White Pelican and Great Egret.  There had been a report of some Ruddy Shelduck and we were able to find a group of five.  We tallied 11 ducks and allies, 4 species of gulls & terns, nearly 500 herons & egrets, and five species of raptors. 

The habitat at the Vermet unit was perfect and it was there we saw the majority of the 19 shorebirds.  Of note were Red Knot, Stilt Sandpiper, Dunlin, and White-rumped Sandpiper.  And thanks to our friends at Macomb Audubon who alerted us to a sighting of a Hudsonian Godwit.  This was originally spotted by another birder riding on the dike.

Trip checklist on eBird https://ebird.org/checklist/S192617971

Don Henise took some great shots below of some of the birds we saw and, of course, one of his six-legged flying friends.

(American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos))

(Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea))

(Sanderling (Calidris alba))

(Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii))

(Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus))

(Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla))

(Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus))

(Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus))

(White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis))

(Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia))