We spent the morning birding in four areas of the refuge. The weather was nice and there were plenty of birds. We identified 53 species. The first area we went to was Pine Grove Trail. Birds we identified there included a female hooded merganser by the boat launch, a male wood duck flying towards Fleetwood Pond, and a Virginia rail we heard by the observation deck overlooking Turkle Pond. In the woods, we came across ovenbirds, a yellow-throated warbler, yellow-rumped warblers, a yellow warbler, and a Carolina chickadee. Feeders were gone by the Visitor’s Center but among other birds, we identified purple martins, northern cardinals, American robins, and brown-headed cowbirds. We saw 37 species along Dike Trail including three adult bald eagles, ospreys, pileated and downy woodpeckers, Forster’s terns, American avocets, flocks of dunlins, green-winged teal, and greater yellowlegs. We took the Boardwalk Trail last and found, among other birds, a common yellowthroat, snowy egrets, blue-gray gnatcatchers, European starlings, and a house wren.
MY PHOTOS: greater yellowlegs, wood duck, American robin, downy woodpecker, northern mockingbird, great blue heron, Forster’s tern, laughing gull, red-winged blackbird, turtle
