We covered five areas of the refuge today. The tide was high. By the Visitor’s Center, some of the birds we identified were Carolina wren, golden-crowned kinglet, blue jay, and northern flicker. Birds we identified in Raymond Pool included American avocet, bald eagle, Canada goose, northern shoveler, marbled godwit (mixed in with the avocets), green-winged teal, dunlin, black-bellied plover, short-billed dowitcher, great egret, and greater yellowlegs. We saw the most species in Shearness Pool (26), among them, American wigeon, gadwall, swamp sparrow, northern shoveler, snowy egret, mute swan, trumpeter swan (2), American avocet, American coot, glossy ibis, dunlin, laughing gull, northern pintail, and American black duck. Some of the birds we saw in Beaver Pond were eastern phoebe, great blue heron, and peregrine falcon. The peregrine falcon first flew around the pond before landing on top of a dead tree in the middle of the pond. It stayed there for a couple of minutes before flying away. Birds we saw in Bear Swamp Pool included, Caspian tern, Forster’s tern, dunlin, green-winged teal, northern harrier, semipalmated plover, great egret, swamp sparrow, and mallard.
MY PHOTOS: glossy ibis, bald eagle, Canada goose, northern shoveler, peregrine falcon, American avocet, eastern phoebe, great egret
