Mitchell and Grand Bend

Checked out a few spots last Thursday....been busy, so this is the first time I've had a chance to make a posting....
Stopped in at both the Grand Bend and Mitchell lagoons.

Grand Bend is (was) pretty uneventful. The 3rd cell has completely been drawn down, so the mud is baking and no shorebird habitat. With that being said, we (my Dad Jim and friend Brett Woodman) did have the following:
1 Black-bellied Plover - first of the fall
9 Semipalmated Plover's
30+ Blue-winged Teal's
2 female Northern Shoveler's

Next stop was the Mitchell Sewage Lagoons. The 1st (closest) cell is slowly drying up, so shorebird numbers and diversity should hopefully continue to build. We had the following:
30+ Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Greater Yellowlegs
3 Pectoral Sandpipers
1 of both Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers

and this interesting observation...

 

Turns out this Great Egret was banded in early July 2011 at Chantry Island, off Southampton, fide Chip Weseloh of CWS. Pretty cool!

Warblers and other songbirds are starting to move south, most noticeably Yellow Warblers. 

Yellow Warbler - Mitchell August 11, 2011