Ocean City Welcome Center | Wetlands Institute | Brig 5/2--Semipalmated Plover, White-rumped Sandpiper, Black Skimmer, Green Heron, White Ibis

Green Heron, Wetlands Institute

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron eggs, 
Ocean City Welcome Center

Going to the Ocean City Welcome Center heron rookery is like going to the zoo. There is no birding involved. But Shari & I haven't been to a zoo in years and it is a sight to behold to see 4 or 5 species of herons (including the nesting White Ibises), squabbling, turning over eggs, courting, flying, balancing precariously on branches, all from the walkway while the photographers curse the light or the bird that just moved. I thought we'd spend maybe a half hour there but after a while you get caught up in playing a kind of Where's Waldo with herons, as you keep finding more and more of them tucked away behind limbs or you spend time actually birdwatching  as the Yellow-crowned Night Herons tend to their eggs. They're robin's egg blue by the way. 94 minutes later we left. 

Ocean City isn't that far away from Cape May, but we didn't feel like dealing with the crowds down there on the first really warm day of spring. Instead, we went to one of our favorite spots in Stone Harbor, The Wetlands Institute. I was standing on the porch of the Institute, looking out at the marsh when a women approached me and said, "You look like a serious bird watcher, you wouldn't be interested in seeing a nesting Green Heron would you?" "Indeed, I would," I replied, "I need Green Heron for the year." 

The heron was in a little stand of tree that separate the gravel parking lot from the Institute's lawn. I don't think it was really building a nest there but it was very stolid for a long while as people passed by only to fly away out of the tree with a squawk when I returned with Shari. We added 3 Little Blue Herons to the day list, including a nicely splotched second year bird, and a few shorebirds including de rigeur American Oystercatcher for Shari. 

Black Skimmers, Brig

Then it was up north to do a loop around Brig. I was hoping Shari would get to see the American White Pelican. We were at the Gull Pond where we got a surprise. While Shari was playing with a doggie, I wandered over to the corner where the King Rail has been calling for a month and a half and heard it: Kek kek kek etc.  I quickly got Shari away from her canine pal and brought her over to the reeds. The bird sounds like it's 5 feet away from you, but you cannot see it. 

Our loop was pretty successful, though the wind had picked up so I wasn't enthusiastic about trying to scope large flocks of shorebirds for the oddball. We did find two White-rumped Sandpipers close to the south dike and a nice group of Semipalmated Plovers and halfway to the observation tower our first Black Skimmers of the year. And on the north dike, after missing it at the dogleg, Shari found the pelican. 

62 species on our successful Sunday

Species           First Sighting
Snow Goose  Brig
Brant   Wetlands Institute
Canada Goose  Brig
Mute Swan  Brig
Blue-winged Teal   Wetlands Institute
Northern Shoveler  Brig
Mallard   Ocean City Welcome Center
American Black Duck   Wetlands Institute
King Rail  Brig
Clapper Rail   Ocean City Welcome Center
American Oystercatcher   Wetlands Institute
Black-bellied Plover   Wetlands Institute
Semipalmated Plover  Brig
Whimbrel  Brig
Dunlin   Wetlands Institute
White-rumped Sandpiper  Brig
Semipalmated Sandpiper  Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher  Brig
Greater Yellowlegs   Wetlands Institute
Willet   Ocean City Welcome Center
Laughing Gull   Ocean City Welcome Center
Ring-billed Gull  Brig
Herring Gull   Ocean City Welcome Center
Great Black-backed Gull   Ocean City Welcome Center
Gull-billed Tern  Brig
Caspian Tern  Brig
Forster's Tern   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black Skimmer  Brig
Double-crested Cormorant  Brig
American White Pelican  Brig
Great Blue Heron  Brig
Great Egret   Ocean City Welcome Center
Snowy Egret   Ocean City Welcome Center
Little Blue Heron   Wetlands Institute
Green Heron   Wetlands Institute
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
White Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Turkey Vulture  Brig
Osprey   Ocean City Welcome Center
White-eyed Vireo  Brig
Fish Crow   Ocean City Welcome Center
Tufted Titmouse  Brig
Purple Martin   Wetlands Institute
Tree Swallow   Wetlands Institute
Barn Swallow   Wetlands Institute
Carolina Wren  Brig
European Starling   Wetlands Institute
Gray Catbird   Wetlands Institute
Northern Mockingbird   Wetlands Institute
American Robin  Brig
House Finch   Wetlands Institute
Chipping Sparrow  Brig
Song Sparrow   Ocean City Welcome Center
Red-winged Blackbird   Ocean City Welcome Center
Boat-tailed Grackle   Ocean City Welcome Center
Common Yellowthroat  Brig
Yellow Warbler  Brig
Northern Cardinal  Brig

White Ibises, adult & immature, Ocean City Welcome Center