[AGL] snakebird

[Michael Eisenstadt]

connie, what a treat! thanx!

poor me, reduced to passive birding and
feet no longer up to extended tramping.

but its fun to compare my own lifelist with
you all. anhinga sighting was a sweet
experience and never to be forgotten,
conveniently perching for me me me
so neck could be distinguished as not
being that of common cormorant.

50 in one afternoon is no mean feat.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Connie Clark" <connie_3c at yahoo.com>
To: "Ghetto List Latest" <ghetto2 at two.pairlist.net>
Cc: "Ed & Marilyn Guinn" <grebe at majek.com>; "Michael Eisenstadt" 
<mike.eisenstadt at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:24 AM
Subject: snakebird


Spring birding report:

Mary Ann W drove down Saturday night with Terry M and Madeline V to join me 
in an early Sunday morning, after storm visit to a bird sanctuary on the 
gulf coast. We were hoping for a lot of woodland spring migrants fresh from 
their trip across the Gulf from the Yucatan. We did see a lot of gorgeous 
orange and black orioles and a flock of "indi-dayglow" buntings and various 
others, but not so many warblers as I had seen just a week ago. 
Nevertheless, our count for the day was close to 50 identified species. It 
was a lot of fun for me to have companions to compare notes and to challenge 
each other.

Mary Ann got a 'lifer' in the Catbird; we all enjoyed the soft plumed 
Tri-color Heron, but Terry M was delighted by the Reddish Heron and its' 
lively pink bill; Madeline's favorite was the dressy Black-bellied Plover. I 
had been seeking the fish-eating Anhinga again, and Mary Ann managed to spot 
one with only its' head and neck showing above the water. Then we were all 
mesmerized by the spectacle of what MA referred to as a 'kettle' of maybe 30 
white pelicans in a bowl like formation circling very high in the clear blue 
sky - white wings catching light to glisten. Our nature finale came Sunday 
afternoon as we were driving to the end of a small inland sanctuary, and a 
richly coated coyote darted in front of us, pausing only to show mild 
irritation with our presence.

Every bird we saw was in its finest spring plummage. There are a couple more 
weekends of migrants. I'm keeping an eye on the backyard, and will travel 
down to the coast to continue looking for new favorites. Anybody else see 
anything?