Busy Tram Road

We had a somewhat late start this morning thanks to the time change as we arrived at the refuge a few minutes after 9am. First stop was Tram Road and around the heliport. We haven’t birded that area for many years. And the walk was well worth it. The grasses at the heliport area were quiet. Not even a reclusive sparrow was to be had. But the woods adjacent to Tram Road were quite busy. We picked up 23 species in an hour and fifteen minutes. Four woodpecker species were noted, Pileated, Red-bellied, Downy and what took us as an unexpected surprise, two Red-cockaded Woodpeckers working the pines on the north side of Tram.

The remaining 27 species were observed during the slow drive down Lighthouse Road and around the boat launch. A lot of late morning traffic was present which made the “slow” drive interesting. A flotilla of 13 Coots mixed in with 19 Redheads were observed on the west side of Lighthouse Pool adjacent to the Cedar Point Trail, a few hundred feet from the boat trailer parking lot. Waders including Snowy, Tricolored, Great Blue and Little Blue were present but Great Egrets were nowhere to be found. Strange! At least not until we were nearly to Tram Road on the way out of the refuge that four Greats approached East River Pool from the west, circling in the breeze and eventually settling down in the pool. Two eagle nests between Mounds Pool and Headquarters Pool had 1 adult and 1st year each.

Due to the extra low tide, shorebirds were mostly absent inland, 1 willet and 6 greater yellowlegs were logged on the inland flats. Cormorants were also at a minimum at Headquarters Pond – 3 total.

Birds observed:

• Blue-winged Teal: 9
• Redhead: 19
• Bufflehead: 5
• Pied-billed Grebe: 9
• Double-crested Cormorant: 3
• Anhinga: 2 males
• Brown Pelican: 11
• Great Blue Heron: 1
• Great Egret: 4
• Snowy Egret: 17
• Little Blue Heron: 4 (adults-2, 1st year – 2)
• Tricolored Heron: 11
• Glossy Ibis: 7 (possibly one White-faced mixed in)
• Turkey Vulture: 6
• Osprey: 1
• Swallow-tailed Kite: 1
• Bald Eagle: 4 (1 adult and 1 first year each on two nests)
• Clapper Rail: 3
• Common Gallinule: 4
• American Coot: 27
• Greater Yellowlegs: 3
• Willet: 1
• Mourning Dove: 3
• Belted Kingfisher: 2
• Red-bellied Woodpecker: 3
• Downy Woodpecker: 2
• Red-Cockaded Woodpecker: 2
• Pileated Woodpecker: 1
• White-eyed Vireo: 3
• Red-eyed Vireo: 1
• Fish Crow: 2
• Crow ssp: 4
• Carolina Chickadee: 6
• Tufted Titmouse: 1
• Brown-headed Nuthatch: 6
• Carolina Wren: 3
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: 9
• Eastern Bluebird: 3
• Gray Catbird: 2
• Northern Mockingbird: 2
• Brown Thrasher: 1
• Common Yellowthroat: 7
• Palm Warbler: 8
• Pine Warbler: 3
• Yellow-rumped Warbler: 9
• Yellow-throated Warbler: 1
• Eastern Towhee: 5
• Song Sparrow: 2
• Northern Cardinal: 6
• Red-winged Blackbird: 26
• Boat-tailed Grackle: 40+