We had a pleasant drive around Shovelers' Pond, although birds were comparatively scarce.
Male Red-winged Blackbirds were singing and displaying at several points.
We also saw Eastern Kingbirds at various points along the way.
White Ibis were among the few waders that we came across. Many were juveniles, like the one below.
Large numbers of American Coots were accompanied by a handfuil of Common Gallinules.
We spotted only two Black-necked Stilts, busy preening. The brown back of the one on the left shows it is a female. The one on the right has the black back of a male.
The boardwalk was echoing to the calls of Clapper Rails. One of the Rails was incredibly loud and every so often it would get responses from other nearby Rails. Unfortunately, we never saw any of them!
The baby alligators were still under the bridge at the start of the boardwalk. I counted over 20 of them but there was still no sign of their mother.
On our way to High Island we stopped off for a brief look at the Skillern Tract, where White Ibis watched us from their perches in the trees by the trail.
The only birds visible from the observation platform were a dozen or so adult and juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons.
A male Vermilion Flycatcher was wary of our presence but stopped for a moment just within camewra range.
A couple of Indigo Buntings and a female Orchard Oriole (below) were the only migrants that we saw.
As it was already early afternoon, we decided to push on to High Island, where our first stop was going to be the rookery.
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