Friday the 12th was another good day with more new arrivals in the county. I covered the water again, ever hopeful, but no new species were found. Common Loons and Bonaparte’s Gulls were the best birds with some Lesser Scaup and Ruddy Ducks seen as well. Once I arrived at the Bashakill things began to pick up. The weather was terrible, but birds were still moving. Kevin Kriescher had notified me that he had found a GREAT EGRET at the Main Boat Launch. I let Scotty know and he was already on it when I got there. Once we moved to Haven Road, three more Great Egrets flew over! Also at Haven were an abundance of swallows including my FOS Northern Rough-winged Swallows! Trees and Barns were the others present. Warbler numbers were down yesterday, but few of the common ones could be found in the usual spots, Pine, Palm and Yellow-rumped. I birded the Horseshoe Trail a little later in the day, hoping for a Blue-gray that I never found, but was surprised to find my FOS Common Gallinule just off the trail. The bird called several times while I was there but didn’t show itself in the dense cattail stand. Three new birds for the day wasn’t bad at all. As you might guess, photos in the pouring rain were tough.
Bashakill Birder 