Birding the Meadows with Pete Dunne - Monday, April 9th, 2012

We were greeted at the parking lot by a singing Brown Thrasher sitting up high. Ducks were still good with a couple of Ring-necks, a breeding plumage Ruddy Duck drake, as well as Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, and numerous although far off Scoters. We had several Red-throated Loons in the surf, many Northern Gannets, and 7 fly-over Common Loons. Raptors included American Kestrel, 2 Northern Harriers, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tail Hawk, and Bald Eagle. The beach held 1 wind blown Piping Plover, and 5 American Oystercatchers. We did see a close Horned Lark, an early Chimney Swift, and had 2 singing Common Yellowthroats. Leaders: Pete Dunne, Karl Lukens, Chuck & Mary Jane Slugg, Marc & Lynne Breslow, Steve Weis, Catherine Busch, and Chris Marks.
66 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose  20
Mute Swan  6
Gadwall  10
Mallard  120
Northern Shoveler  8
Green-winged Teal  15
Ring-necked Duck  2
Black Scoter  10
scoter sp.  75
Red-breasted Merganser  10
Ruddy Duck  2
Red-throated Loon  4
Common Loon  7
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Northern Gannet  30
Double-crested Cormorant  800
Great Blue Heron  11
Great Egret  5
Snowy Egret  4
Glossy Ibis  6
Black Vulture  2
Turkey Vulture  8
Osprey  5
Bald Eagle  1
Northern Harrier  2
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
American Kestrel  1
American Coot  18
Piping Plover  1
Killdeer  5
American Oystercatcher  5
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Least Sandpiper  3
Wilson's Snipe  14
Bonaparte's Gull  20
Laughing Gull  25
Ring-billed Gull  4
Herring Gull  10
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Great Black-backed Gull  3
Forster's Tern  8
Rock Pigeon  5
Mourning Dove  6
Chimney Swift  1
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  2
Fish Crow  5
Horned Lark  2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Purple Martin  1
Tree Swallow  8
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Wren  2
Marsh Wren  1
Northern Mockingbird  2
Brown Thrasher  1
European Starling  10
Common Yellowthroat  2     heard
Yellow-rumped Warbler  8
Savannah Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1     heard
Northern Cardinal  4
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Common Grackle  5
Boat-tailed Grackle  4
House Sparrow  5

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

Brown Thrasher [Photo by Karl Lukens]

Horned Lark [Photo by Karl Lukens]