Leaders: Kathy Horn, Roger Horn, Bernie Hodgdon
Temp: 74 °F
Winds: W 5-10 mph
Weather Conditions: partly cloudy
With lower humidity and cooler temperatures, it was a really pleasant morning for birding at the State Park. Aside from that, it was birdy! Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, now rare but regular in our area, were tucked into the 2nd plover pond amidst all the Mallards but hard to miss with their bright pink bills and big white eyerings. Least Tern chicks are getting a little easier to find in their sandy nesting area since they’re just a bit bigger and moving around more; they’re still awfully cute and fluffy. We saw four Green Herons putting on a show, some in flight, some hunting the edge of the ponds. And at this time of year, you are always within earshot of Indigo Buntings and Purple Martins.
50 species
| Species | Count |
| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck | 4 |
| Canada Goose | 9 |
| Mute Swan | 95 |
| Mallard | 98 |
| Wild Turkey | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | 11 |
| Chimney Swift | 1 |
| American Oystercatcher | 5 |
| Killdeer | 2 |
| Least Sandpiper | 11 |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | 15 |
| Short-billed Dowitcher | 11 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | 1 |
| Laughing Gull | 12 |
| Herring Gull (American) | 5 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 34 |
| Least Tern | 44 |
| Common Tern | 2 |
| Forster’s Tern | 15 |
| Royal Tern | 1 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron (Blue form) | 1 |
| Great Egret | 3 |
| Snowy Egret | 1 |
| Green Heron | 4 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 |
| Osprey (carolinensis) | 4 |
| Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) | 1 |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 2 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 2 |
| White-eyed Vireo | 1 |
| American Crow | 5 |
| Fish Crow | 3 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 2 |
| Purple Martin | 60 |
| Tree Swallow | 16 |
| Barn Swallow (American) | 8 |
| Carolina Wren (Northern) | 8 |
| European Starling | 5 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 3 |
| American Robin | 3 |
| House Finch | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 3 |
| Field Sparrow | 4 |
| Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) | 18 |
| Common Grackle | 2 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 7 |
| Yellow Warbler (Northern) | 2 |
| Northern Cardinal | 6 |
| Indigo Bunting | 3 |
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck photo by Kathy Horn
Great Crested Flycatcher photo by Kathy Horn
Green Heron photo by Kathy Horn
