Bike Ride

Cyndi and I did a short 12.5 mile bike ride at the refuge starting at gate 129 about 1100. We went to the outer levee and south to its terminus, doubled back north to the ring dike campground by East Stony Bayou, and then back south and out to the starting point. The bicycling surface on this route is 2/3 pretty good and the rest, not terrible, but a little lumpy and slow due to dense, short grass.

We saw not a single duck on either Mounds 3 or Stony Bayou 2, and one female Gr. Scaup, perhaps ill, on Mounds 1. The Great Horned Owl was on the nest on the south end of Mounds 3 (still no chicks visible), the flamingo was on station north of center on Mounds 3, and five Roseate Spoonbills were at the extreme east end of Stony Bayou 2.

The tides are quite strong now, and apparently so much water ran out of the salt marsh in the am low, it was taking longer than expected to refill as the tide increased in the bay. Consequently, considerable mudflats were still exposed in the salt marshes and Tower Pond was completely birdless at noon, which I thought would be close enough to the pm high tide to produce better results.

A few dozen Am. Wigeon were still on Lighthouse Pool, including the “storm” wigeon.

A very nice day for a bicycle ride, but not so great for the big, charismatic, non-passerines.