A scratching good time at the Meadows or Good things come in threes

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The Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks put on what may have been the best show of their long stay today, as they lounged 25 feet from the bridge on the west path at The Meadows (aka TNC's South Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge) for most of the morning. They were seemingly oblivious to all but the banner planes flying along the beach -- they woke up and looked around each time one flew by. Observers wondered at one point if itching was like yawning -- contagious.

This trio of juvenile Tricolored Herons flew in to The Meadows from the west and turned over the whitstling-ducks to land a bit to the north. The age of the birds can be determined by the rufous necks of the birds, as compared to the blue-gray (mostly) necks of adults.

[Photo by Tony Leukering]