Mead Gardens, 4/1/2012

Hermit Thrush

I drove by Mead Gardens on my way home today.  I spent about 45 minutes there just to see if I could find anything interesting.  I only saw about 18 species there, but I did see my first Hermit Thrush of the year.  One of the Wood Ducks was out in nice light, a Barred Owl was out keeping watch, a Carolina Wren put on a little concert for me, and a Red-Shouldered Hawk flew by with a duckling in its grasp.  I heard at least one Northern Parula but never found it; I think it was across the stream on private property.

Wood Duck

Red-shouldered Hawk with Duckling

It was also fun to photograph species other than birds today.  I got my first photographs of a Long-tailed Skipper, and a wonderful dragonfly I can't identify perched for me.  There were two Red-eared Slider turtles on a log that were in just the right light.  I see them there often, but they seem always to plop into the water when I get ready to take a picture.  This time they were much more cooperative.

Long-tailed Skipper

Dragonfly

Red-eared Sliders

Here's the list of species I saw today from about 11:45am to 12:30pm:

Wood Duck 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
White Ibis 1
Black Vulture 5
Turkey Vulture 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 2
Barred Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Fish Crow X
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Hermit Thrush 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Northern Parula 1
Northern Cardinal 15