We went on an open-to-the-public Saturday morning bird walk led by members of the Sussex Bird Club. We covered three areas of the refuge. Starting in the parking lot, we noticed that the purple martins had returned and were occupying their apartments. Other birds seen here included white-throated sparrow, killdeer, American robin, eastern bluebird, and red-winged blackbird. Next, we went to the Boardwalk Trail which was very active with 25 species picked up. Some of the birds identified here were snowy egret, bald eagle (adult pair), eastern phoebe, osprey, green-winged teal, Forster’s tern, northern harrier, Carolina chickadee, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, Carolina wren, mallard, northern flicker, and great blue heron. Our last stop was the Dike Trail. Birds we saw here was American avocet (about 20), yellow-rumped warbler, laughing gull, osprey, northern shoveler, dunlin, northern harrier, greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, Canada goose, mallard, Forster’s tern, and mourning dove.
MY PHOTOS: American avocet, white-throated sparrow, greater yellowlegs, osprey, Carolina wren, Canada goose
