Midweek at the Meadows - Wednesday, April 8th, 2015

Spring continues to frustrate us, but the rewards are there for those who brave the weather. Today’s walk was breezy and looked like being wet, but the rain stopped just before we started out and it stayed dry throughout. Heading out from the parking lot, we started nicely with a hunting Northern Harrier, before bumping into a Snowy Egret, then working our way through a nice selection of ducks, including incoming Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, and outgoing Buffleheads and Ring-necked Ducks. At least seven American Coots were still present before all chaos broke out when the first of two Bald Eagles that we were to see passed through. Ospreys paid their respects and a good flight line of Tree and Barn Swallows was flowing along the back side of the dunes. The tracks of River Otters and the delights of sniffing Sweetfern followed before we checked out the bay and watched a good passage of Northern Gannets – the gleaming white adults looking particularly sharp against the gray skies. Three Lesser Yellowlegs and a Wilson’s Snipe livened up the final leg of the walk before we all headed for a well-earned coffee! Leaders: Mike Crewe, Chris Marks, Steve Weiss and Mary Watkins.
45 species

Brant  2
Canada Goose  63
Mute Swan  7
Gadwall  14
American Black Duck  4
Mallard  22
Blue-winged Teal  2
Northern Shoveler  18
Green-winged Teal  48
Ring-necked Duck  6
Surf Scoter  24
Black Scoter  6
Bufflehead  12
Red-throated Loon  2
Common Loon  1
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Northern Gannet  12
Snowy Egret  1
Glossy Ibis  6
Black Vulture  4
Turkey Vulture  6
Osprey  2
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  2
American Coot  6
American Oystercatcher  2
Lesser Yellowlegs  3
Wilson's Snipe  1
Laughing Gull  6
Ring-billed Gull  8
Herring Gull  12
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Forster's Tern  4
Mourning Dove  4
American Crow  2
Fish Crow  6
Tree Swallow  18
Barn Swallow  24
European Starling  4
Savannah Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  32
Common Grackle  12
Brown-headed Cowbird  8
House Finch  4
House Sparrow  6

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