On the Green Cay bird count yesterday the first birds to greet me where these Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. There were 4 adults and 6 juveniles. After some walkers came by they all took flight over the wetlands. Even with the winds from Hurricane Ike, birding was going to be good today with a start like that. Later I relocated the two adults and 3 baby Black-bellied Whistling Ducks that I saw last week. They look great with their bumblebee suits on. I'll have to post a picture later to show you the full effect.
In addition to the BBWD, we also had the normal wading birds such as this Tri-colored Heron. There was an absence of Wood Storks but otherwise the normal suspects were around such as Black-crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, and Little Blue Heron. The Mottled Ducks were also out in good numbers; I saw 36 individuals on the mile trail. For the second straight week I couldn't find a single Purple Gallinule. I have no idea where these birds went but they should be here. A month ago we had up to 20 individuals.
Of course the big highlight for me is finding the migrants. Even with the winds it turned out to be a pretty good count. We had Prairie Warblers, American Redstart, and a lone Black-and-White Warbler. Check out my picture above, not bad for a point and shoot camera with hardly any zoom. This gives you an idea of just how close I can get to these birds. A mixed flock has been hanging out in the Cypress Island and today they came right over to me after a few squeaks. In addition to the warblers we had quite a few Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, 7 individuals in all. It wasn't the best bird count in Green Cay history but as always it gave me a few surprises.
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