Marine Park--Southwest 7/17: The One That Got Away

Sparse summer birding at the marsh this morning--I was there from 8 to 11 as the tide was coming in--I figured the cool of the morning would be the best time to see any birds and that the incoming tide would keep the ATVs at bay.

On my way out I thought I heard a guy laughing on the other side of a small stand of trees. Looking up I saw a brown heron, legs trailing, flying up and out of my sight line. A few yards later I flushed it again, same odd laughing alarum, but this time it flew too far away to follow.

Now, I know that a couple of weeks ago another birder reported an American Bittern at the marsh, but since a bittern would be unusual there, eBird hasn't accepted the record. There aren't that many egrets or herons that are brown--I know it wasn't a Green Heron--too big, and I know it wasn't a juvenile BCNH--too brown, so I want to call it an American Bittern, but with its rarity and with the lousy fleeting glimpses I got, I can't, in goo conscience, call it. So I have to let it go as the one that got away, ending the day's birding on a frustrating note.

By the way, plenty of seating today along the trails.

Only 30 species for the morning; I'm starting to look forward to fall migration, which will probably start in another couple of weeks.
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Egret  3
Snowy Egret  1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1
Laughing Gull  10
Herring Gull  2
Forster's Tern  3
Black Skimmer  1
Rock Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  15
Chimney Swift  2
Northern Flicker  1
Willow Flycatcher  5
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  1
Barn Swallow  20
American Robin  15
Gray Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  5
Yellow Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Song Sparrow  3
Swamp Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  1
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  1
American Goldfinch  1
House Sparrow  10

Week 7, Smart Car Wreck.