Great Egret Numbers Growing - 29 Jul 2024
I took a drive to Erie Marsh Preserve to look for shorebirds. Skies were overcast and a bit on the dark side with high humidity and 76F at 8 am.
Grabbing the scope and 600/4 I hiked out past Pond 1 to Pond 2 where I scoped shorebirds along the far west shoreline. The highlight of the morning was seeing 34 Stilt Sandpipers among the as-many Lesser Yellowlegs, a couple Short-billed Dowitchers, and several Semipalmated Sandpipers. Unfortunately no pictures would be had today due to the extreme distance and poor lighting.
I continued out the main trail past the Sulphur Pond and scoped Field E that was flooded and hosting a nice flock of 120 Great Egrets. Again, they were at scoping distance but I took a few pics anyway. No Snowy Egrets were among them.
Shorebird habitat was nowhere to be found so I continued on to the trail at the north end of Pond E. Thinking that I'd run into the pumphouse at the east end of the trail I was happy to find that it connected with the outer dike. Just before reaching the outer dike I spotted a pair of Eastern Kingbirds; one allowed a quick pic.
The outer dike was relatively quiet, but did produce almost a dozen House Wrens, several Yellow Warblers, and a couple of Gray Catbirds. Unfortunately I was plagued by a number of stable flies that wanted to land on my face and neck; I walked as fast as I could, but the 1.5+ mile walk was wearing on me. Swarms of Tree Swallows and European Starlings would provide temporary relief as the flies would depart for their lives.
I'd stop to photograph Pond 9 from a cut in the trees
and stop long enough to photograph a Giant Swallowtail
and a Black Swallowtail.
When I reached the maintenance yard the overhead wires were teeming with dozens of Purple Martins.
Jul 29, 2024 8:00 AM - 10:11 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.921 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Overcast, humid 76F
38 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 6
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 11
Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) 8 2 ad and 6 cygnets
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 23
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 5
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis) 6 6 Lesser Scaup on log next to outer dike near maint yard.
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata) 4
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 16
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 4
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 4
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 2
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 43
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 5
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) 34 Pond 2 west shoreline
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 2
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 9
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 12
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 15
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 51 Roosting in field Pond 2
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 128
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 16
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 7
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 6
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) 1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 125
Purple Martin (Progne subis) 86
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 12
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) 2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 5
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 256
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 3
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 17
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
