Our second day in a row at the refuge took us in most of the same places as yesterday. We started in Tom’s Cove today and saw the same group of American oystercatchers we saw yesterday. We also saw an immature little blue heron, royal tern, laughing gull, black-bellied plover, and great egret. Some of the birds we saw in Little Tom’s Cove were semipalmated plover, American oystercatcher, Foster’s tern, willet, ruddy turnstone, snowy egret, and double-crested cormorant. In Swan Cove, the beach, and Tom’s Cove visitor center, some birds we saw included tricolored heron, osprey, snowy egret, boat-tailed grackle, little blue heron, royal tern, red-winged blackbird, and great egret. We only took the part of Woodland Trail from the parking lot to the pony overlook platform. Some of the birds we identified along this trail were cattle egret, European starling, turkey vulture, American crow, northern mockingbird, downy woodpecker, eastern kingbird, pine warbler, and northern cardinal. Next, we took the trail from the Wildlife Loop parking lot through the woods to the causeway. Some birds we identified there were gray catbird, northern flicker, great egret, Forster’s tern, and belted kingfisher. Back along Beach Road and Swan Cove, we saw little blue heron, greater yellowlegs, great blue heron, Forster’s tern, and some other birds. Our last stop was Wildlife Loop. Some of the birds we identified here included semipalmated sandpiper, bald eagle (one adult and one immature), green heron, osprey, little blue heron, great blue heron, Canada goose, white-eyed vireo, and gray catbird.
MY PHOTOS: semipalmated sandpiper, little blue heron, snowy egret, great egret, green heron, bald eagle, boat-tailed grackle
