I spent most of Thursday, 18 May, on the refuge. Along Tom's Cove (I think
it's called little Tom's Cove) near the visitor's center, I found an adult and
an immature Little Blue Heron and a Snowy Egret feeding in the shallow water at
low tide. They were soon joined by a pair of Marbled Godwits and a few Dunlin.
There was a pair of Black Skimmers on the exposed sandbar who were
feeding/skimming in the shallows. I was able to get a few photos of one with a
fish in its bill. At the end of the south beach parking area, there is a
cordoned off area with a nesting American Oystercatcher. I was able to take
some photos of the female as she approached her nest and then settled onto her
eggs. On Friday morning, she was sitting tightly on her eggs, as well. She is
easy to spot from the parking lot. Along the drive to the beach where the
first open area is, I found a pair of Blue Grosbeaks. They were right along
the road. The find of the day and probably the trip was the pair of
Gull-billed Terns along the backside of the Wildlife loop. They were resting
and foraging along the back causeway. I was able to take some better photos of
them and was lucky enough to have a couple of photos with a fish in the GBTE's
mouth.
Overall, I had 94 species for the trip although I wasn't birding very hard. I
didn't go along the woodland trail to look for warblers or other species. Most
of the birds were seen in the marshes or heard as I was driving.
I've posted the last of the photos on my Flickr site:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vmibiology/
Dick Rowe
VMI Biology Dept.
