We covered two areas of the refuge on this cloudy morning. Some of the birds we identified near the Visitor’s Center included purple martin, northern mockingbird, great blue heron, common yellowthroat, house wren, American robin, brown-headed cowbird, and a flock of double-crested cormorants. The water levels were high as we walked along the Dike Trail. Nonetheless, a few sandy islands were still visible. On these islands was a mixture of birds including Forster’s tern, common tern, Caspian tern, royal tern, willet, black skimmer (2), herring gull, and ring-billed gull. Other birds identified along the Dike Trail included barn swallow, ospreys (in a nest on a tree at the end of the trail), indigo bunting, Carolina wren, snowy egret, laughing gull, tree swallow, common grackle, mallard, and eastern wood-peewee.
MY PHOTOS: great blue heron, northern mockingbird, Forster’s tern, osprey x 2, purple martin
