Monday, August 04, 2014

A Quick Visit to Paul Rushing

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Once again last week, work and other things continued to keep me from doing any serious birding. The best I could manage was an hour at Paul Rushing Chain of Lakes Park on Sunday morning.

I was hoping to see a Horned Lark, plus the Least Bittern that Sarah and Mike Kuzio spotted there a couple of weeks back but I didn't see either. When I arrived, three Common Nighthawks were circling well beyond camera range while a Turkey Vulture (below) was flying much lower.



There were the usual large wading birds, including a couple of Great Egrets.






I quietly approached a Snowy Egret that was standing on the handrail of a boardwalk. When I got nearer, its greenish legs revealed it to be an immature Little Blue Heron.



Adult Black-necked Stilts were kicking up a ruckus in the weeds and reeds.



When I looked more carefully, I realized that they were accompanied by several juveniles.  



The water was empty of birds except for a solitary American Coot and one Pied-billed Grebe.



Back in the parking lot, I stopped to grab photos of a few Killdeer that were hanging out there. 



My impression of the visit was that I had seen hardly any birds. However, when I drew up my visit list, I realized that I had actually seen quite a few:
Black-bellied Whistling Duck 2
American Coot 1
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 2
White Ibis 1
Killdeer 30
Black-necked Stilt 10
Forster's Tern 1
Common Nighthawk 3
Turkey Vulture 1
Black Vulture 1
Rock Pigeon 10
Eurasian Collared Dove 1
Barn Swallow 3
Cave Swallow 6
Purple Martin 25
Mourning Dove 20
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 20
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Great-tailed Grackle 20
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