Birding in Neighborhoods - South

By Cathi Bower

On the first of the month, between wandering the Greenbank Farm grounds and our stroll to the Wonn beach access, we identified at least 36 species. There was a little of everything, including the most exciting, a closeup look at a gorgeous pair of Blue-winged Teal right there in the pond!  (Although by the next day they had moved on from the GB pond, thankfully, they were present at Ewing Marsh in time for Birdathon team Shore Thing’s Big Day!) Of course we picked up a few birds along the way, such as park-n-ride juncos, some sort of falcon/hawk that remains unidentified, and as we were leaving, a flock of maybe Dunlin, and all the occupied Osprey nests on the towers along the highway. At the Farm, there was a fresh-looking Bushtit nest. Then there are the Killdeer shrieking and running around there, who don’t even bother with nests, and we wonder how they even make it at all. 

Mid-month, we wound up at Sunlight beach because we came for the Marbled Godwit, and stayed for the 34 other species we identified on the flats and along the dike, including the Horned Grebes on the Sound side and that leucistic eagle that’s been around for a few years.  On the lagoon side, we had to really hunt through all the Whimbrels to see which one was actually the godwit, but found it pretty quick—can’t miss the big two-toned bill. A couple dozen pelicans happened to cruise in and land near us, and it never ceases to amaze just how enormous those things are—a few Ring-billed Gulls really set off that comparison, not to mention the little Greater Yellowlegs and the Black-bellied Plover. Also we were fairly enamored with a pair of Purple Martins on a piling.