Sat. 4/5: Higbee Beach notes- Gnatcatchers, late Fox Sparrow, Laughing Gulls "in"

An early evening visit to Higbee Beach WMA produced some interesting birding. The highlights for me were my first Blue-gray Gnatcatchers of the year- six, as a matter of fact. I'd assume that at least a few of these arrived last night. Another sighting of note was a Fox Sparrow between the first and second fields. This was the first I've encountered in over a week, and quite possibly the last until Halloween. Fox Sparrows mainly move through during March, and by this point only stragglers remain in these parts...eBird actually required me to confirm this sighting, as the species isn't included in the "regular" checklist for early-April.

Otherwise, the fields and woods were fairly quiet, minus the Northern Cardinals and Carolina Wrens that were singing their hearts out. I walked out to the beach to confirm that the Gannet show continues in earnest in the mouth of the bay, and it seems pretty safe to say that Laughing Gulls are "in" for the season- I estimated over 100 in the half-hour I spent searching the sea.

Location: Higbee Beach
Observation date: 4/5/08
Number of species: 48
Canada Goose 2
Mallard 2
Green-winged Teal 1
Surf Scoter 45
Black Scoter 70
dark-winged scoter sp. 20
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Red-throated Loon 20
Northern Gannet 700
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Oystercatcher 2
Sanderling 63
Laughing Gull 115
Ring-billed Gull 9
Herring Gull 20
Great Black-backed Gull 16
Forster's Tern 12
Mourning Dove 10
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 2
Fish Crow 1
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
American Robin 20
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 10
Cedar Waxwing 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Eastern Towhee 6
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 2
Northern Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 9
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
House Finch 4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)