After a day of rain yesterday, it was refreshing to be greeted by a sunny morning at The Meadows and a perfectly comfortable temperature for a walk. Early migrants kept us very busy today, as Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers and a singing Common Yellowthroat were in the bushes and a nice collection of swallows and martins fed throughout the reserve. Great and Snowy Egrets were in fine breeding plumage and the scopes came in handy to provide good views of Wilson’s Snipe. Offshore, incoming Northern Gannets and Forster’s Terns mingled with outgoing Surf Scoters and Red-throated Loons and American Oystercatchers were on the beach. At the turning point of our walk we actually find some interesting, non-bird, wildlife to study. An Eastern Mud Turtle on the trail gave a great opportunity for us to study this common but not often seen species, while nearby, we found footprints and diggings from a River Otter that had clearly been having fun rolling around in the sand. The tell-tale, fish-scale-filled scat was also located. Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier and a first-of-season Broad-winged Hawk were all seen in the skies above and skeins of Double-crested Cormorants seemed to be ever-present, snaking their way north overhead. Leaders: Mike Crewe, Chris Marks, Steve Weiss, Mary Watkins, and Catherine Busch.
57 species
Canada Goose 22
Mute Swan 12
Gadwall 8
Mallard 18
Blue-winged Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 10
Ring-necked Duck 14
Surf Scoter 8
Black Scoter 4
Bufflehead 6
Red-throated Loon 1
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 16
Double-crested Cormorant 650 active migrants crossing the bay
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 4
Glossy Ibis 1
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
American Coot 6
American Oystercatcher 4
Killdeer 1
Wilson's Snipe 2
Laughing Gull 12
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Forster's Tern 4
Mourning Dove 6
Chimney Swift 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
Fish Crow 6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 12
Purple Martin 24
Tree Swallow 32
Barn Swallow 12
Carolina Chickadee 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
Northern Mockingbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 4
Palm Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Field Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 34
Common Grackle 8
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 14
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
