Birders,
Today I lead a birdwalk for the local Institute in Learning in Retirement
group. Rain held off long enough for us to enjoy the birds. Our first stop was
the entrance road (about a half mile from the parking lot) on the left side of
the road (as you would leave the refuge) we happened upon 7 Black-crowned Night
Herons. We flushed them from down near the water to rest in the scrubby
bushes. Three stayed perched at the top of the bushes giving us good looks. I
saw
something that puzzled me. While looking at 2 adults in breeding plumage I
noticed that one of the birds had orange-red legs instead of the usual yellow
legs. I looked in Sibley's to see if perhaps it was a breeding plumage thing
and
didn't see it. The sun was not playing tricks on me as the sun was not out and
there was considerable cloud cover at the time. Has anyone ever seen this in
an adult?
Several groups of White Ibis flew overhead during the morning walk. The
largest group containing 5. Close to 20 were seen in all. The Osprey were very
busy
with nesting material and fishing. We observed 2 nest sights. On the ocean
side the Gannet were in VERY CLOSE! The scope was not needed to see the
beautiful coloration on the face. We observed 4 separate Common Loon in
breeding
plumage that were close to shore as well. As we left, in a hurry as the rain
had
begun, we flushed a Wilson's Snipe.
I was pleased with the outing as it was the first birdwalk for the
participants and we were able to see 37 species. Hopefully some will take to
the birding
trails in the future with a new hobby!
Karen Beatty
Virginia Beach, VA
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