Butterflies at Terrapin Nature Park.

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 Heron 2016-60

Green Heron 2016-58

Green Herons seem to be less shy this year.

Double Crested Cormorant 2016-21

A single Double Crested Cormorant flew over the pond.

Snowy Egret 2016-118 Snowy Egret 2016-117 Snowy Egret 2016-115 Snowy Egret 2016-119

Snowy Egret 2016-116

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

Skipper 33 Butterfly 32 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 61 Monarch 27 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 60 Red Spotted Purple 3 Red Spotted Purple 2

Common Buckeye 7

Today’s butterflies.

Dragonfly 83

And a dragonfly.

Graeme Simpson 6

Graeme Simpson 5

Graeme Simpson, setting up at Sandy point.

Diana Linnekin 1

Diana got some practice with my Sigma lens.

 

 

Belted Kingfisher at Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center.

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.

Sandy Point 282

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Forster's Tern 2016-14

Forster's Tern 2016-13

Forster’s Terns are becoming more common.

Goldfinch 2106-16

I found this Goldfinch at CBEC.

Great Blue Heron 2016-67

I’m seeing fewer Great Blue Herons than usual.

Seagull 2016-1

This is a young Laughing Gull.

Osprey 2016-105 Osprey 2016-104 Osprey 2016-103

Osprey 2016-106

A single Osprey was fishing in the big pond.

Snowy Egret 2016-114

Snowy Egret 2016-112 Snowy Egret 2016-111 Snowy Egret 2016-110

Snowy Egret 2016-108

There were 25 Snowy Egrets present today.

Snowy Egret 2016-107 Snowy Egret 2016-106

Snowy Egret 2016-113

This Snowy Egret was trying to intimidate a rival.

Green Heron 2016-56

Green Heron 2016-57

This Green Heron landed right behind me.

Dragonfly 82

Today’s bugs.

Dragonfly 81

Common Buckeye 6

This is a Common Buckeye.

 

 

Northern Shoveler at Terrapin Nature Park.

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.

Sandy Point 281 Sandy Point 279

Sandy Point 280

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Marsh Pond 25

Cell phone image of the Marsh Pond.

Green Heron 2016-54

Green Herons are still plentiful.

Snowy Egret 2016-101

Snowy Egrets at dawn.

Great Egret 2016-37

There’s still only one Great Egret hanging around.

 

Osprey 2016-99

Ospreys will be with us well into October.

Osprey 2016-98 Osprey 2016-97

Osprey 2016-100

Sometimes an Osprey seems to be looking right at you.

Bald Eagle 2016-64

Bald Eagle 2016-63

This immature Bald Eagle was checking out the scene.

Forster's Tern 2016-12

Forster's Tern 2016-10

Forster's Tern 2016-9

This is a Forster’s Tern.

Caspian Tern 2016-23

Caspian Terns were fishing alongside the Forster’s.

 

Snowy Egret 2016-103 Snowy Egret 2016-102

Snowy Egret 2016-104

Snowy Egrets will be plentiful for a while.

Norhern Shoveler 2016-1

Norhern Shoveler 2016-2

This Northern Shoveler is probably an early migrant.

Skipper 32

This is a Skipper.

Red Spotted Purple 1

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

Bullfrog 2

This Bullfrog is always in the same spot.

Lesser Yellowlegs at Terrapin Nature Park.

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.

Sandy Point 278

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Wild Turkey 2016-2

Wild Turkey 2016-1

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

Caspian Tern 2016-22

Two Caspian Terns showed up again.

Great Egret 2016-36

There’s still only one Great Egret hanging around.

Snowy Egret 2016-99

Snowy Egret 2016-98

Snowy Egret 2016-96 Snowy Egret 2016-95 Snowy Egret 2016-94 Snowy Egret 2016-93

Snowy Egret 2016-97

There were fewer Snowy Egrets than yesterday.

Snapping Turtle 15

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

Dragonfly 80

Butterfly 31

Today’s bugs.

Bald Eagle at Terrapin Nature Park.

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.

Sandy Point 274

Sandy Point 273

Sandy Point 276

Sandy Point 275

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Great Egret 2016-33 Snowy Egret 2016-90 Snowy Egret 2016-89 Snowy Egret 2016-88 Snowy Egret 2016-87 Snowy Egret 2016-86 Snowy Egret 2016-84 Snowy Egret 2016-83 Snowy Egret 2016-82

Snowy Egret 2016-85

Snowy Egrets are dominating the marsh ponds.

Green Heron 2016-51 Green Heron 2016-50 Green Heron 2016-49

Green Heron 2016-48

Green Herons seem more plentiful than in past years.

Caspian Tern 2016-20 Caspian Tern 2016-19

Caspian Tern 2016-18

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

Bald Eagle 2016-61

Bald Eagle 2016-59

Bald Eagle 2016-60

This Bald Eagle was looking for an Egret breakfast.

 

Pine Warbler at Greenbury Point.

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.

Goldfinch 2106-15

There are many Goldfinches at Greenbury.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird 2016-15

I saw at least two Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Indigo Bunting 2016-14

Greenbury Point always has a resident Indigo Bunting.

Brown Thrasher 2016-5

Brown Thrashers haven’t been very common recently.

Eastern Kingbird 2016-34

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

Orchard Oriole 2016-22

Orchard Orioles seem to nest at Greenbury.

Bee 223

Today’s bug.

Zinnia 1 Coneflower 1

Sunflower 1

Today’s flowers.

 

 

Turkey Vultures at Terrapin Nature Park.

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.

Sandy Point 271 Sandy Point 270

 

Sandy Point 272

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Caspian Tern 2016-17

Caspian Tern 2016-16

Caspian Terns were fishing in the marsh pond.

Great Egret 2016-31

A single Great Egret was fishing.

Snowy Egret 2016-81

Great Egret 2016-32

Only one Great Egret was present this morning.

Snowy Egret 2016-80

Snowy Egret 2016-79

There were 9 Snowy Egrets foraging this morning.

Turkey Vulture 2016-2

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

Barn Swallow 2016-29

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

Ladybug 51 Bee Mimic 110 Grasshopper 209

Grasshopper 210

Today’s bugs.

 

 

 

 

Caspian Tern at Terrapin Nature Park.

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.

Osprey 2016-96

Osprey 2016-93

Osprey 2016-94

This Osprey has done well.

Brown Headed Nuthatch 2016-3

Brown Headed Nuthatch 2016-4

CBEC is the place to find Brown Headed Nuthatches.

Green Heron 2016-47

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

Laughing Gull 2016-3

This Laughing Gull is molting.

Ring Billed Gull 2016-7

This Ring Billed Gull was at CBEC.

Bald Eagle 2016-58

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

Snowy Egret 2016-73

Snowy Egret 2016-77 Snowy Egret 2016-74

Snowy Egret 2016-75

Snowy Egret 2016-78

I saw about 15 Snowy Egrets at Terrapin.

Greater Yellowlegs 2016-1

This probably a Greater Yellowlegs.

Caspian Tern 2016-16

Caspian Tern 2016-14

Caspian Tern 2016-15

This Caspian Tern was fishing at Terrapin.

Dragonfly 78

Dragonfly 79

Today’s bugs.

Great Blue Heron at Jonas Green Park.

I had to work this morning, so I planned an abbreviated day-Sandy Point and Greenbury Point. I was hoping to find some butterflies and was only partly successful. We’re still in the birding doldrums.

I made a brief stop at Jonas Green on the way home, but it was pretty dead there as well.

Sandy Point 268 Sandy Point 267

Sandy Point 269

Sunrise at Sandy Point.

Jonas Green 17

Bay Bridge 124

A couple of cell phone images.

Snowy Egret 2016-72

These Snowy Egrets were fishing from the rocks at Sandy Point.

Indigo Bunting 2016-13

This Indigo Bunting is molting.

Osprey 2016-91

Osprey 2016-92

You don’t often see an Osprey photo with trees in the background.

Great Blue Heron 2016-64 Great Blue Heron 2016-63

Great Blue Heron 2016-62

Great Blue Heron 2016-65

This Great Blue Heron was unusually cooperative

 

Skipper 28

Skipper 29

Skippers at Greenbury Point.

 

 

 

Green Heron at Terrapin Nature Park.

I got started too late to catch the sunrise this morning, and went directly to Terrapin. The weather was good, cooler than usual and reasonable humidity, but there wasn’t much variety on the birding front.

I did see 19 Egrets, which is a lot, and a few Terns and Gulls. but it was otherwise ordinary. Fall migration starts soon, so things will improve.

Marsh Pond 24

Marsh Pond 23

The marsh pond.

Great Blue Heron 2016-60

This Great Blue Heron flew the length of the pond.

Caspian Tern 2016-11

This Caspian Tern stayed at the far end of the pond.

Laughing Gull 2016-2

This is a Laughing Gull.

Osprey 2016-90

Another successful Osprey.

Snowy Egret 2016-68

Snowy Egret 2016-71

Snowy Egret 2016-69

The Snowy Egrets were very curious about this turtle,

Green Heron 2016-46

Green Heron 2016-45

I saw two Green Herons.

Monarch 25

Monarch 26

I’ve seen only a few Monarch Butterflies so far.

Dragonfly 77

Dragonflies are still plentiful.