August NASWC Bird Walk

This was the hottest bird walk yet. It was clear and sunny with only an occasional breeze on the T&C playing fields. But Steven McDonald and I spent about 2 and a half hours this morning finding 40 species of birds -- much better than we expected! We saw Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, and Green Herons. This Great Blue Heron was sunning itself in a strange posture that I've only seen before on the coast. Shorebirds included Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper and probably a Semipalmated Sandpiper.

We had good luck with land birds too. There were 50-100 Purple Martins and many Barn Swallows as well. We found all 3 common doves in the neighborhood including this Inca Dove. (Notice how its feathers appear scaly.) And we found 5 species of flycatchers: Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and 1 unidentified Empidonax species. This was the first time since spring migration I've seen Pewees in the area.