Hazy bird watching

The three H’s are back with a vengeance! (Hazy, hot and humid) With a week of well below normal temps that only reached the upper sixties and frost at a few inland locations, the heat is back. As I write this article the temperature is nearing 90 F.

This mornings bird watching trip was to Goose Rocks Beach and Granite Point here along coastal Maine. My wife and I arrived at GRB at sunrise, with the mud flats exposed on a rising tide. The flats were busy with shorebird feeding activity, and we had very close looks at Snowy and Great Egrets near the public way to the beach.

The following tally of our morning bird watching activity was generated by eBird.

Location:     Goose Rocks Beach
Observation date:     8/25/07
Notes:     Haze/fog very warm for early morning. Obs made during rising tide.
Number of species:     23

Canada Goose     18
American Black Duck     4
Mallard     3
Common Eider     17     (Males molting)
Great Blue Heron     2
Great Egret     11     (6 feeding on mud flats - 5 in flight)
Snowy Egret     16
Glossy Ibis     4
Black-bellied Plover     1     (feeding on mud flats)
Semipalmated Plover     100
Lesser Yellowlegs     6
Willet     12
Whimbrel     7
Semipalmated Sandpiper     32
White-rumped Sandpiper     9
Short-billed Dowitcher     8
Mourning Dove     3
American Crow     12
Tree Swallow     30
Barn Swallow     8
Gray Catbird     2
Northern Mockingbird     1
Cedar Waxwing     6

Not a bad morning. The haze did cut down on available light for bird photography, but I made do. The following are pictures we took this morning. As always, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated!

And finally, profile images of several species we observed this morning as well. Enjoy!

Happy birding!

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