Birdwalk Highlights for 5/31: Hodgepodge

It was raining once again...as it has on a weekend for 12 straight weeks, apparently. We expected worse though, and other than one moderate downpour, it was mostly light rain and mist, so it was - for the most part - quite birdable. With breeding season upon us, and no real hope for a migrant fallout of any variety, we just drove around and checked a wide variety of habitats, from open fields to saltmarsh to the bay.

Highlights included 50 BOBOLINKS, a close-encounter with a confiding BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, and 6 locally-uncommon LAUGHING GULLS off of the Freeport Town Wharf.

With short stops from roadside pull-offs to a stroll at the Walsh Preserve, I simply kept a running list of birds encountered amongst all of the stops. Some of the other tallies included: 45 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, 43 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, 40 HERRING GULLS, 30 COMMON EIDER, 15 TREE SWALLOWS, 10 SONG SPARROWS, 6 MALLARDS, 4 COMMON TERNS, 3 RED-EYED VIREOS, 2 VEERIES, 2 EASTERN KINGBIRDS, and one each of SAVANNAH SPARROW, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, OVENBIRD, GRAY CATBIRD, SNOWY EGRET, GREAT EGRET, YELLOW WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and OSPREY.