Folks,
*Highlights*
Pleasure House Point Natural Area - 4:50 to 6:00 PM - 2 Blue Grosbeaks, a
striking male American Goldfinch, Green Heron, 5 Yellow-crowned
Night-Herons, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, 5 Semipalmated
Plovers, Spotted Sandpiper, 2 Black Skimmers, American Oystercatcher, Least
Tern and many Royal Terns. 5 Mallards were only waterfowl seen.
*Warning:* There is a rather large wasp or hornet nest being built on the
ground at the western-most corner of the largest pond, right near the
junction of the main shoreline trail & the older vehicle trail that runs
north-south along the west side of the pond (the one with rainwater pools
in the old tire tracks). I didn't see it until I could hear them swarming,
it blends in very well with the surrounding soil. Just a heads up to switch
your eyes from the treetops to the ground when walking past this point.
*Outing Photographs*
*http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150524/
<http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150524/>*
*Full Species List(s)*
*http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23538461
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23538461>*
*Full Details*
After skipping a nice evening on Monday since I was just flat wore out from
the previous few days of hiking, I got back out on Tuesday evening for a
quick walk up at Pleasure House Point. Arriving at 4:50 PM after heading
home from work and grabbing my gear, I parked as I typically do on
weeknights along Marlin Bay Drive, heading into the park and traveling
eastward with the sunlight at my back. On the way in, an *Eastern Towhee*
was singing loudly atop a pine tree, actually offering some looks rather
than calling from the thick underbrush that I usually encounter them in. *Pine
Warblers* could already be heard off in the distance as well, and a
pair of *Northern
Cardinals* was seen around the smaller of the two ponds that this entry
trail splits between. Between the this pond and the deer carcass pond I
encountered a brilliantly colored male *American Goldfinch* in its summer
colors, a bird quite common around here but one I don't think I've ever
actually seen inside the park itself. After it flushed, another bird came
in and I thought it was a House Finch at first, but a look through the
binoculars revealed it was a female *Blue Grosbeak*, one of two that I'd
see on the day. As this one also eventually flew off, I heard a bird
calling that sounded like a heron, and when I approached to investigate, it
flew off over the creek, clearly a *Green Heron* though. At this point in
the day, the tide was rather low, leaving lots of shoreline exposed, and
the main cove of Pleasure House Creek that cuts into the park was almost
completely devoid of water. I was very surprised when on my first pass
around the cove I didn't pick out a single shorebird, perhahps they were
just hiding too well.
Around the cove though, *Red-winged Blackbirds* were singing from the tops
of every available tree, and a *Boat-tailed Grackle* was also joining in
song. A single *Least Tern* was seen flying over the cove rather
erratically, making a photo of this small speedster pretty much impossible.
The small interior creek that flows adjacent to the next bit of trail also
proved empty of shorebirds on its exposed sides, but a single *Semipalmated
Plover* came flying swiftly towards me, just a couple feet above the water,
zooming past out into the marsh. This was a first for me at the park,
though again something others probably have seen plenty of times before.
Heading up towards the main point where folks often crab & fish, an *American
Oystercatcher* was seen flying past, and shortly afterwards, a single *Black
Skimmer* did so as well, skimming the water's surface of Crab Creek along
the way. Walking around the sandy areas of the point heading towards the
new pier it was obvious that the sandbars exposed were quite massive due to
the very low tides. Upon reaching the pier area, it was also obvious that
all the birds on the sandbars were out way too far for me to pick out
anything rare. I could see plenty of *Laughing Gulls*, *Herring
Gulls*, and *Royal
Terns*, and did see one more Black Skimmer, but as far as anything smaller,
I couldn't pick it out from this distance.
Heading back westward, with the light now in my eyes, I realized that there
was quite a storm building to the southwest. In fact, Town Center's skyline
(if one can call it that) was draped in doom-looking black clouds. I
watched the thunderhead build on itself, swelling upward, but it never
seemed to get any closer to where I was, so I kept on walking back towards
where I'd parked just in case. At the interior creek, this time a *Spotted
Sandpiper* was sighted, and about 20 feet away from it, a single*
Semipalmated Sandpiper *(showing black legs), one *Least Sandpiper *(showing
yellow legs and slightly smaller), and one Semipalmated Plover were all
walking around the high-and-dry oyster shells. I was surprised to find 4
shorebirds, all of different species right in the same spot! Eventually,
another plover came flying in, chasing off the first and the two
disappeared into the marshes. Walking around the main cove yielded 3 more
Semipalmated Plovers, and a *Greater Yellowlegs* also landed out in the
middle, where the water was just a few inches deep. Continuing west the
birds were pretty quiet, though I heard & saw a few *Chimney Swifts *overhead.
I didn't see much until I reached the far western fringe of the park, where
a group of 3 *Mallards* and a few *Yellow-crowned Night-Herons* were seen.
From here I walked back east, passing through the woods and down the westside of the largest pond. As I hit the junction with the shoreline trail, I
