A Creepy Nice Day

It is a beautiful day. In fact, so nice for this time of year that it is almost creepy. I set out from under the bridge, down the big river toward the marsh. It is already 60F, with no wind to speak of, and sunny. The tide is nearing high and the marsh will be well flooded. A Great Egret is parked in the usual spot just a hundred yards down from the put-in. There is a tiny flowage entering there and it must be good for fishing.

I pass a Common Loon that is fishing in the current under the draw bridge. A Night Heron flies by me heading upriver. Six Yellow-Legs greet me at the top of the marsh, when I get there.

Yellow Legs

I head up the smaller channel toward the central phragmites patch, because it is usually a good bird spotting place. I pass a Red Wing Blackbird, but other than an occasional flushing of one or two Ducks - Blacks or Mallards, it is very quiet. And, there is not a single bird at the phragmites patch. I continue on following a weaving diagonal set of channels towards the tip of Milford Point.

Here's where I start to see more birds. The bottom of the marsh floods at high tide such that it appears to be a large pond. I spot quite a few Mallards and Black Ducks, usually in twos or threes, no big flocks. There are some smaller Ducks that I guess to be Teal. They are small, flush early, are in small flocks, and don't quack, but I can't get a solid identification on them. 

In the open area near the point is another Common Loon. It is fishing, and I watch it dive and come up after it travels a good distance. It is moving back and forth over a couple hundred yards in this area. Now, I see Loons all winter, but this one stands out. Loons lose their dramatic coloring during the winter and this is the first time that I have seen one in summer feathers with a speckled back and striped throat, although the changeover might not be complete. 

There is a flock of a hundred Brandts working the shoreline of the point. I steer well wide of them so as not to disturb their feeding. I spot a flock of a dozen Buffleheads well away from shore out by the edge of the spartina.

Buffleheads

On the way out, just above Cat Island, I spot several Hooded Mergansers. At first, I assumed they were Teal, but I managed to ge a photo before they flushed. I don't usually Hoodies other than in pairs. I suppose they are migrating north.

Heading up the main river, a noisy whistle draws my attention up to an Osprey with a fish in its talons. Then, a mature Bald Eagle comes into the picture, chasing the Osprey. They circle overhead until the Osprey drops the fish, which lands in the river. Then, they both go their separate ways without either retrieving the dropped fish.