One of the things that can detract from a Bird watching experience is moving around too much. Sometimes you can see more birds sitting in one spot than you can walking through miles of trail. I made a compromise this morning by confining my birdwatching to a single 100 yard stretch of railroad track.
I moved around a little bit to get different views of the marsh but was able to keep my focus on observing, not walking.
There were plenty of birds to be seen in the marsh including cormorants,blackbirds, Wood Ducks, and Great Blue Herons (above).There was also several of Belted Kingfishers with this female being the noisiest of the bunch.
I could hear more birds in the woods than I could see but there were plenty to be heard. I believe this mystery bird which was perched quietly in the woods is a young cowbird. I don't feel like double-checking it so correct me if I'm wrong.
It's always worth looking up too. I caught an eagle and hawk in the midst of airplay.
Memo to self: Make sure that you spend more time observing birds than just walking around looking for birds to observe!
