The outing to Forsythe was blessed by magnificent weather and a nice variety of bird life. Egrets and Herons were particularly abundant with Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets in large numbers. On our first stop we saw numerous immature Black-crowned Night-Herons as well as what looked to be a sub-adult (2nd/3rd year bird) sitting in trees across a marsh as well as in flight. A few Glossy Ibis were seen in flight as well as feeding. Shorebirds were scarce but we did see Greater Yellowlegs, Semi-palmated Sandpipers and a few Black-bellied Plovers. A really entertaining sight was a Clapper Rail dashing out of the reeds several times to take a “bath” and then scooting back to cover. Laughing Gulls and Forster’s Terns in there winter plumage were also abundant. Three Caspian Terns with their bright orange bills were also a nice pick up. As is usual we ended our trip with a nice lunch at Shea’s where we went over the list. We saw 40 species overall.

Participants: Dino Fiabane, Robert Koch, Jean Tindall, Louise Tompkins and Ro Wilson.
Guests: Jennifer Campagna and Mike Zickler

Report and photos by Robert Koch