credit: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Warbler/id
However many other fine looking spring birds showed off their breeding plumage today. There were Common Loons flying overhead, and Red, White & Blue Tom Turkeys fanning their tails for potential mates. A pair of Green Herons chased each other around Barbour's Pond, at one point scaring up a Black-Crowned Night-Heron, which is a rare bird here. The Killdeer young have already fledged and were joined on the southern mudflats by a pair of Spotted Sandpipers showing off their namesake spots.
A pair of Yellow-Billed Cuckoos were actively flying about & calling, as were several Great Crested Flycatchers and Eastern Kingbirds. Vireos were also present with the resident Warbling pairs alongside the Red-Eyed, and even a few Blue-Headeds remain here before heading to their northerly breeding areas.Gray-Cheeked Thrush are now in, joining their Swainson's cousins & the melodious wood Thrushes and Brown Thrashers.
In addition to the Mourning Warbler, we saw Ovenbirds and a Northern Waterthrush. Later Bill and I explored the more remote areas of the park and came up with Nashville and Bay-Breasted Warblers, ad heard Hooded Warbler. Still present are Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, Magnolias and a few Blackburnians. Blackpoll Warblers are common now as well as Candas. We found one Wilsons Warbler to round out the total of 20 species seen today.
