There were four areas of the refuge that we birded. We identified just four birds near the Visitor’s Center: Carolina wren, mourning dove, cedar waxwing, and European starling. Along the Dike Trail, we identified 29 species. The highlight was a peregrine falcon perched on top of a dead tree near the end of the trail on the north side. Other birds identified included a pair of orchard orioles, blue grosbeak, snowy egret, Caspian tern, American avocet, great blue heron, common tern, royal tern, belted kingfisher, osprey, and ruby-throated hummingbird. The Boardwalk Trail was fairly quiet although we saw norther flicker, tree swallow, barn swallow, great egret, and turkey vulture. Our last stop was the Pine Grove Trail where, as usual, we identified more birds by sound than by sight. Birds we identified here included eastern wood-peewee, blue jay, red-bellied woodpecker, white-eyed vireo, and Carolina chickadee. We saw two adult bald eagles soaring from the platform that juts out into Turkle Pond.
MY PHOTOS: peregrine falcon, northern flicker x 2, blue grosbeak, snowy egret, mourning dove
