Least Bittern and Marsh Wren - 04 Jul 2021

At 7 am today looked to be scorcher with no winds, high humidity and temps pusing mid-90's. My kind of weather. I parked at Mouillee Creek and headed out along the Middle Causeway. Swamp Sparrows were singing in the Nelson and Walpatich Units. A Sedge Wren was a nice find: I heard its distinct "Chip-Chip-cheenk-cheenk-cheenk" call but was unable to see it.

Consolation came in the form of a Least Bittern that appeared along the shoreline of the inside canal as I rode the south shore of the Nelson Unit. A few pics with the a1 to secure proof then I pulled out the scope and digiscoped the bird with the Sony a9 at a whopping 2400mm EFL.

I found the roosting colony of Ring-billed Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls, Caspian Terns and Forster's Terns but was unable to see the Laughing Gull reported days earlier. I decided to continue on to the dike separating Long Pond and Vermet Units and head north to the North Causeway. There, I would ride the Lake Erie shoreline around Cell 5/6 that was overgrown with white clover (4-5 ft tall plants slapping me as I waded through on the bike). Tree Swallows were the insect of the day as they were numerous all over...

I went back to the gull roost after exploring the rest of the SGA and immediately found the Laughing Gull among the roosting colony and was able to get a couple of record pics through the scope before it hunkered down and went to sleep out of sight. The Semipalms were now gone from the area.

As I rode back past the singing Sedge Wren I spotted a Marsh Wren atop the phragmites lining the Nelson Unit and spent a few minutes digiscoping it before it flew off.