Sandy Point sunrise was only so-so again-I didn’t even wait for the sun to appear before leaving for Terrapin.

Terrapin was unusually active today, with plenty of herons, egrets and eagles, but no warblers yet. I spent an hour searching for them before I settled in, but had no luck at all.

Sandy Point. Black Vultures at dawn.

Three Eastern Kingbirds were foraging in the marsh.

At least four Green Herons are still active.

Only one Forster’s Tern showed up this morning.

Two Great Egrets were fishing in the marsh pond.

Two Great Egrets were fishing in the marsh pond.

I haven’t seen a Belted Kingfisher at Terrapin for several weeks.

Two turtles appeared while I looking for birds.

Today’s butterflies.

This Jumping Spider was the only bug I found.

Sunrise was so-so once again, but there were a few interesting birds on the beach.

I was at Terrapin shortly after sunrise, but the water was quite high from last night’s rain, and there weren’t any wading birds to be seen. I spent some time searching for warblers, which are being seen elsewhere, but had no luck.

I had an early appointment, so I made a brief stop at Sandy Point on the way home and picked up a couple of gulls.

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

This Sanderling was also on the beach.

I found this Blue Gray Gnatcatcher while looking for warblers.

This appears to be a first year Osprey.

This Forster’s Tern was at Sandy Point.

This Laughing Gull was on the beach.

Today’s butterflies.

I took a couple of pictures at Sandy Point, but they’re so blah I’m not even editing them.

Terrapin had the usual suspects, with a nice crop of butterflies. Graeme, Diana and I spent some time on camera technique and got a few decent pics before the heat and humidity drove us out.

Green Herons seem to be less shy this year.

A single Double Crested Cormorant flew over the pond.

Several Snowy Egrets flew to the opposite end of the pond.

Today’s butterflies.

And a dragonfly.

Graeme Simpson, setting up at Sandy point.

Diana got some practice with my Sigma lens.

After another so-so sunrise, I went to Terrapin, which was a bit livelier than yesterday. There were 19 Egrets, several Ospreys and at least four Green Herons. Only one Tern showed up, but a couple of Butterflies and Dragonflies were around as well.

I decided to give CBEC a try as well. The heat and humidity have greatly diminished for the moment. Although there were some good birds there, they stayed quite distant, and I didn’t get much. The Kingfisher was a nice find, as they have been missing in most of the places I usually find them.

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Forster’s Terns are becoming more common.

I found this Goldfinch at CBEC.

I’m seeing fewer Great Blue Herons than usual.

This is a young Laughing Gull.

A single Osprey was fishing in the big pond.

There were 25 Snowy Egrets present today.

This Snowy Egret was trying to intimidate a rival.

This Green Heron landed right behind me.

Today’s bugs.

This is a Common Buckeye.

The sunrise was kind of blah again, but Terrapin was more interesting.

I thought I saw a Mallard hanging out with Egrets, but a closer look  showed it be a Shoveler. It looked like a hen to me, but apparently it’s a male in eclipse plumage.

A young Eagle also put on a show, and there were more Terns than usual.

A new butterfly and a bullfrog rounded out the morning.

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Cell phone image of the Marsh Pond.

Green Herons are still plentiful.

Snowy Egrets at dawn.

There’s still only one Great Egret hanging around.

Ospreys will be with us well into October.

Sometimes an Osprey seems to be looking right at you.

This immature Bald Eagle was checking out the scene.

This is a Forster’s Tern.

Caspian Terns were fishing alongside the Forster’s.

Snowy Egrets will be plentiful for a while.

This Northern Shoveler is probably an early migrant.

This is a Skipper.

This is a Red Spotted Purple, a butterfly I haven’t seen before.

This Bullfrog is always in the same spot.

The Sandy Point sunrise was good enough, if not as spectacular as I prefer.

Terrapin was much slower than yesterday, but Sandpipers are finally starting to appear. The weather continues to suck-hot and humid even at 5:00 AM.

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

The Wild Turkey has long been a nemesis bird for me, so I was glad to get even these poor low light images.

Two Caspian Terns showed up again.

There’s still only one Great Egret hanging around.

There were fewer Snowy Egrets than yesterday.

This Snapping Turtle is a shot I forgot to post yesterday.

Today’s bugs.

Sandy Point coughed up a decent sunrise this morning, and it must have been a message to the birds, because I had my best day in a while.

There weren’t a lot of birds at Terrapin, but the ones that were there put on a good show, and that’s what a nature photographer needs. You can only take so many shots of a bird at rest before you want something more.

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Snowy Egrets are dominating the marsh ponds.

Green Herons seem more plentiful than in past years.

A few Caspian Terns always fish in the pond for a short while.

This Bald Eagle was looking for an Egret breakfast.

Yet another hot and very humid day, even at 5:00 AM. I’ll be glad to see the end of this heat wave.

I decided to give Greenbury Point a try, as it’s close and I knew I wouldn’t be out long. It was actually very birdy compared to recent visits, and I saw some birds I haven’t seen in a while.

I chased bugs and butterflies for a while also. All in all, a decent morning.

There are many Goldfinches at Greenbury.

I saw at least two Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Greenbury Point always has a resident Indigo Bunting.

Brown Thrashers haven’t been very common recently.

I haven’t seen an Eastern Kingbird for a while.

Orchard Orioles seem to nest at Greenbury.

Today’s bug.

Today’s flowers.

I think I haven’t mentioned how hot and humid it’s been lately. It was pushing 80/80 by the time I got to Sandy Point at 5:15 am, and it was near 90 by 9:00.

This is making for short days.We dealt with this crap daily in Vietnam, but someone recently reminded me that was nearly 50 years ago, and I’m a bit older now.

Anyway, it was the usual suspects today, with no real surprises, but I did spend a little time looking for bugs.

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Caspian Terns were fishing in the marsh pond.

A single Great Egret was fishing.

Only one Great Egret was present this morning.

There were 9 Snowy Egrets foraging this morning.

It’s odd to see Turkey Vultures on a Wood Duck box.

Two Barn Swallows successfully drove this Turkey Vulture out of the area.

Today’s bugs.

Sunrise was kind of blah this morning. I stuck around for a while, but nothing materialized, so I got to Terrapin early. A couple of eagles flew off as I arrived, and egrets continue in large numbers.

CBEC was not as good as it should have been.

This Osprey has done well.

CBEC is the place to find Brown Headed Nuthatches.

It was tough to get a good image of this Green Heron in the morning light.

This Laughing Gull is molting.

This Ring Billed Gull was at CBEC.

I just barely caught this Bald Eagle as he was flying away.

I saw about 15 Snowy Egrets at Terrapin.

This probably a Greater Yellowlegs.

This Caspian Tern was fishing at Terrapin.

Today’s bugs.