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| That spoon, that spoon, that spoonbill Click photos to enlarge |
I was on the Wildlife Drive a little after 7 this morning and stopped at Goose Marker 4 without finding the target. I moved on and ran into a friend of mine at #5. We stood scanning the pool, talking, enjoying the light breeze which kept the flies away from us. We saw a group of photographers up ahead but photographers will take a thousand pictures of a House Sparrow if the light is good, so we paid them little heed. After a while, having seen most of the usual, expected birds for July 1, my phone dinged: ROSP just beyond tower on left among egrets.
I ran back to my car, jumped in, don't tell anyone but went over the 20 MPH speed limit for a quarter of a mile and arrived where the photographers were grouped. Put up my bins and there it was, the Roseate Spoonbill that has been playing hide-and-seek at Brig for the last week. The reason I sped down the drive was because this bird has a history of flying off to other parts of the refuge and sometimes disappearing altogether and I didn't want to hear, "Ooo, you just missed it!"
Another entry in the goofy bird category with the added bonus of also being one of the "big-nosed" birds I enjoy so much. I think this may be the 3rd time a spoonbill has taken up residence at Brig. About 9 years ago, Shari & I found the 2nd one. I remember we were driving around, not finding much of anything that day, when on the north dike I spotted a big pink bird and said out loud, "WTF is that?" and Shari calmly identified it. We didn't have a camera that day so I stopped a photographer who had been taking pictures of Ospreys (I had been making fun of him to Shari when we passed him) and told him, "Take a picture of that!" It turned out to be a life bird for him and he shared the credit with us when we made our formal report to the Records Committee. So I have a sentimental attachment to spoonbills.
Having got that bird out of the way in the first mile or so of the drive I was free to make my way around the remaining 7 miles without any pressure. I found what I found--I wasn't interested in building up a huge list for the day. The air conditioning in the car kept the flies at bay and the few times I stopped to scope they were little more than a nuisance, but then, it wasn't really that hot yet either.
The only other "notable" bird I found was a Ruddy Duck way out in the pool off the north dike. This is a long-staying duck that didn't get the memo to migrate. It is rare only for date.
I stopped briefly at the parking area for Jen's Trail, just where the upland portion of the drive begins but moved on quickly, having no desire to exchange greenhead flies for biting deer flies. A stop at the Refuge Overlook (the Experimental Pool to old timers) yielded two singing Yellow-breasted Chats (heard only), 3 swooping Gull-billed Terns, a Willow Flycatcher and an Orchard Oriole.
I had 48 species for the morning. I didn't even stop at the Gull Pond. Home before 1 o'clock.
Canada Goose 60
Mute Swan 20
Mallard 40
American Black Duck 2
Ruddy Duck 1
Double-crested Cormorant 7
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 25
Snowy Egret 30
Black-crowned Night-Heron 4
Glossy Ibis 50
Roseate Spoonbill 1
Osprey 15 occupied nests
Clapper Rail 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 10
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Willet 30
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Laughing Gull 100
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Least Tern 2
Gull-billed Tern 3
Caspian Tern 1
Common Tern 1 NE corner, as usual
Forster's Tern 50
Black Skimmer 10
Mourning Dove 2
Willow Flycatcher 1
Blue Jay 2 Heard
Fish Crow 4
Purple Martin 10
Tree Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 2
House Wren 1 Heard parking lot
Marsh Wren 1 Heard dogleg
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1 Road to Gull Pond
European Starling 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Seaside Sparrow 5 Heard
Field Sparrow 1 Heard Refuge Overlook
Song Sparrow 2 Heard
Yellow-breasted Chat 2 Heard at Refuge Overlook
Orchard Oriole 1
Red-winged Blackbird 100
American Goldfinch 2
Glad you got it Larry.
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