Just sayin’.

Remember that neck-banded Canada Goose seen at Laurel Hill last winter? (Note snow in the photo by Jill Homcy, above.)

Several folks reported the bird to USGS, and Chris Takacs finally got a report back.

The Canada Goose was from  (insert drum roll, please)…

Canada.

Unbelievable.

The next you know, we’ll learn that the American White Pelican and American Avocet currently staying at DeKorte are from America.  (Thanks, Chris!)

Information on the goose follows. Continue reading →

Construction on the Marsh Discovery Trail continues — with great progress.the old slippery plastic boardwalk has been totally removed, and the new cedar plank boardwalk is being put into place, complete with wooden railing (below, left).

One of the docks has been replaced as well (below right), and judging from the muddy prints on the railings (below center), the herons and egrets approve. These photos were taken Monday.

A quick check of the Shorebird Pool found the American Avocet hunkered down along the shore of the phrag island closest to the MEC. American White Pelican also continues (sigh).

Did not have time to look for Least Bitterns, but they are no doubt out there.

Regina Geoghan reports:

Saw this guy Sunday.  Not a great photo for ok to ID.   I think it is a Horace’s Duskywing.

Late Sunday afternoon: saw two Black Swallowtails, an Easter Tiger Swallowtail,  a Monarch, a Question Mark, a Red Admiral and lots of skippers and clearwings.    (Thanks, Regina!)

“A” marks the spot where the American Avocet was seen today.

“B” marks the spot where the Least Bittern was seen this afternoon.

“P” points in the general direction of where the American White Pelican can be seen — in the next county.

We saw this guy just before noon in Jill’s Garden but had wrong camera and no time….  This is the first recorded sighting that we know of here.

Will post if we see this huge butterfly again.

More on Giant Swallowtails here.

With any luck, the new observation deck along the Transco Trail will be done by week’s end.

Ron Shields and I had an American Avocet (far left in the photo above), Least Bittern and a thousand Semipalmated Sandpipers (below) in the Shorebird Pool this morning.

We will post a map of locations later today.

Pelican continues in the usual area of the Saw Mill Creek Mudflats. We are now charging it rent. (Thanks, Ron!)

Our next free walk is 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 19, in amazing Harrier Meadow, a 70-acre natural area usually closed to the public.

More information follows.

Continue reading →