Lynda and I took a day off Monday and had planned on going to Crainey
Island, but the storms late last week changed our plans. Lynda called
Friday and was informed the storms had washed away parts of some of the
roads and that they would be closed at least Monday and probably
Tuesday. Since we both had already planned on being off, we decided to
head to Mathews and do the Birding Trail loop.
I think we hit most all of the sites on the trail and had the best luck
at Bethel Beach. We were a bit disappointed with the lack of variety of
birds, but we still had a good time and got some decent pictures. The
tide was extremely high and the winds were a bit rough, so the birds
were not very plentiful with the exception of the gulls. We did find
some terns, sandpipers, and plovers, but only a few.
We ran into George and Rosemarie Harris at Bethel Beach. They had
arrived before us and had been watching some of the terns across the
water. It was nice to meet fellow birders and put a name with a face.
We drove through the road beside Bethel Beach and found a few neat birds
in the wooded area. I got pictures of a palm-warbler and a
yellow-rumped warbler (thanks to Rachel for help with the ID's). We
both got some decent shots of a Phoebe. Lynda also got a Flicker from
down there. There were quite a few white egrets and blue herons in the
marshy areas on the way in.
Several of the beaches had large number of Cormorants and lots of Gulls.
Lynda's pics start at: http://www.pbase.com/tomlyn/image/103881387 or at
http://6024.zenfolio.com/p675535339 (she is experimenting with this
site, let her know what you think)
Mine are at:
http://public.fotki.com/bhouston/miscellaneous/nature_pics/20080928-mathews/
As always, we welcome comments and questions.
Barbara
