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Friday, April 16, 2010

Higbee: 3 Vireos + Snake; Protho Arrives

[Black Rat Snake at Higbee this morning. Often arboreal, rat snakes are predators on bird eggs, nestlings, and even adults - but fascinating in their own right.]

Higbee Beach WMA was fairly busy this morning, featuring a quite early Yellow-throated Vireo initially picked out by Dave La Puma, as well as 3 White-eyed Vireos, one Blue-headed Vireo, and 3 Common Yellowthroats. A good Common Loon and Double-crested Cormorant migration was underway overhead, and in the trees were numerous Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The full list is up on Field Trip Reports.

10 minutes at the Concrete Ship - end of Sunset Blvd. - before the Higbee walk revealed that loon and gannet numbers have fallen substantially, at least for that snapshot of time. Only 4 Northern Gannets and 2 Red-throated Loons appeared. A Common Loon flying overhead gave its tremolo call.

Pete Dunne had a Prothonotary Warbler at Beaver Swamp this morning, another arrival.

[Mike Hannisian sent this photo of a Carolina Chickadee extracting nesting material from a bungee cord on his grill!]

[Another nest-building Carolina Chickadee, this one on a pile of fluff of uncertain origin at Higbee this morning.]


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