The Rest of My Morning at High Island

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Before leaving Smith Oaks, I walked up to the observation decks overlooking the rookery, because I never tire of watching the antics of the nesting birds there.

Few sights in nature are more beautiful than that of Roseate Spoonbills in full flight.

Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets were looking splendid in their breeding plumage.

It was fun watching the Great Egrets as they flew back to their nests ...

... or as they returned with branches for nest-building.

Some Great Egrets were already sitting on eggs but others were at an earlier stage in the mating game.

I rounded off my visit to High Island with a brief visit to Hooks Wood, a site I'd never visited before. Black-throated Green Warblers were everywhere.

 Several species of warblers and vireos were present but most were too difficult to photograph. I missed getting a shot of a Golden-winged Warbler but managed a (just recognizable) one of a Blue-winged Warbler.

It was a nice goodbye bird for my trip.
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