We covered five areas in Assateague Island National Seashore. Our first stop was at Life of the Marsh. Highlights in this area included the following birds: black vulture, great egret, least tern, ruddy turnstone, little blue heron, brown pelican (flock of seven), willet, semipalmated plover, mallard, laughing gull, and indigo bunting (near the parking lot). It was difficult to identify birds at Bayside Point as much of the water was now covered with the fog that rolled in. Nonetheless, some of the birds we identified here were least tern, eastern phoebe, northern cardinal, boat-tailed grackle, fish crow, and Carolina wren. Birding was good at Old Ferry Landing as the visibility improved. The highlight was a clapper rail by the boardwalk that we watched for about ten minutes. We saw it go for a swim, too. Other birds we identified here included tricolored heron, barn swallow, ruddy turnstone, osprey, willet, little blue heron, snowy egret, herring gull, and brown pelican (flock of six). Our next stop was Life of the Forest. Some birds we identified here included yellow-throated warbler, brown nuthatch, pine warbler, green heron, house wren, red-winged blackbird, dunlin, semipalmated sandpiper, barn swallow, and double-crested cormorant. The last stop was Life of the Dunes. Some of the birds we identified here were northern mockingbird, osprey, common yellowthroat, prairie warbler, willet, eastern towhee, and turkey vulture.
MY PHOTOS: clapper rail x2, brown pelican, ruddy turnstone, herring gull, great egret, mallard, house wren
