Apr 19: Bird Census Results  

It was an extremely windy day which made it difficult to locate song birds. But the number of shorebirds present was impressive. Many of the shorebirds were distant making identifying them difficult and many of the species were probably undercounted. Some of the higher counts were 58 Least Sandpipers, 114 Pectoral Sandpipers, 267 Long-billed Dowitchers, 55 Greater Yellowlegs, and 57 Lesser Yellowlegs. There were more than a thousand Franklin's Gulls sitting on a sandbar off the end of Plover. Lucy the Bald Eagle did a flyover and got all of the shorebirds excited and they were flying around everywhere seeking safety. Some of the first of season birds included Indigo Buntings, Dickcissels Swainson's Thrushes and a Louisiana Waterthrush. We saw 273 Blue-winged Teals, 130 Northern Shovelers, 70 Gadwalls along with other duck species. We found some Brewer's Blackbirds and Upland Sandpipers in the fields west of the refuge. We finished the day with 85 species. Today's photo is a Wild Turkey tom showing off for the females. Thanks for looking.

  Wild Turkey Tom 

Apr 12: Bird Census Results 

It was a very windy day and the wind started blowing early and got stronger as the morning progressed. Lots of shorebirds were present on the mudflats but many were too far away to easily id and the wind made it difficult to use a spotting scope. Off the end of Plover there was a large flock of shorebirds including a large number of Long-billed Dowitchers, a couple of Sanderlings, some Least, Baird's and Pectoral Sandpipers as well as a Caspian Tern, some Franklin's Gulls and Forster's Terns. There are still a large number of Blue-winged Teals present with a count of 212 for the day. We saw one Lesser Scaup and a Bufflehead in Mineral Marsh. In the fields west of the refuge on beyond Short Road and including Short Road we found at least 79 Upland Sandpipers. On Short Road we found a Vesper Sparrow and 3 Clay-colored Sparrows in with a mixed flock of sparrows including Harris's Sparrows. On the way to Sandy Point we saw a single hen Wild Turkey and saw our first of season Summer Tanager singing near the large oil pad near the end of Sandy Point. At Sandy Point we had our first of season Spotted Sandpipers, a count of 5 and later 4 more on Tern Pad. We saw the Red-headed Woodpecker that hangs out in the trees just south of Mineral Marsh. We heard 2 Pileated Woodpeckers. We saw a Black-and-white Warbler near Oil Field Road. There is still about half a dozen white geese, both Ross's and Snows. We finished the day with 86 species. Today's photos, Black-and-white Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper and Vesper Sparrow.  Thanks for looking.