The water level has returned to normal at Lake Knapp, and the waterfowl bonanza has diminished greatly. There were still plenty of Egrets, but the Herons and Sandpipers are about gone.

CBEC has plenty of other birds, of course, but they also have a vast richness in biting insects at times.

I made  stops at Jonas Green Park, Terrapin, Wooton and Quiet Waters as well.  Warblers soon come.

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CBEC Dawn.

These Least Sandpipers are travelling in large flocks.

Several Greater Yellowlegs were searching the perimeter of the lake.

Snowy Egrets outnumbered the other water birds.

There were many Tricolored Herons.

There were 20 or more Great Egrets every day.

Forster’s Terns seem to visit every day.

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I’ve been visiting CBEC daily for a week or so. The low water has attracted hundreds of waterfowl and provided lots of photo opportunities. The water is so low that the resident carp are dying. I’ve never seen the lake water level so low.

The Tricolored Herons are continuing, along with Terns, Sandpipers and Ospreys. It’s been too hot to stay a long time, but it’s working out.

The Avocets have been seen several times, but I was lucky to get any look at all. They flew in, circled a few times and left.

All the mud you see is usually covered.

I mean, we had a lot of Egrets

I’ve see 100 or more Snowy Egrets at CBEC most days this week.

This Great Egret has found an eel.

A quick stop at my neighbor’s feeder.

We’ve been seeing 20,or more Tricolored Herons each day.

Several Laughing Gulls have been visiting.

6-8 Greater Yellowlegs are visiting.

There’s often a few Killdeer in the mud flats.

Several Ospreys are still in the area.

12 American Avocets flew in for a brief visit.

Graeme and I spent the morning at Bombay Hook NWR, and had a very good day! We started with a Peregrine Falcon, and went on to a Least Bittern and a Common Gallinule, two life birds.

I had several overexposures because the light was much better than I’m used to. Must check more often.

The locals told us the Spoonbills hadn’t been appearing, but we got lucky on the second go around, and found them quite close to the road.

Avocets, Stilts and Ibises rounded out the list.

Glossy Ibises are quite striking.

Bombay Hook is a reliable place to find Black Necked Stilts.

This Common Gallinule is a first for me.

We saw about 35 Wood Ducks. These are first year birds.

There were thousands of Semi Palmated Sandpipers.

Many Great Blue herons were fishing in the marsh.

A few dozen Forster’s Terns were rapidly fishing.

My best look at a Laughing Gull this year.

You can often find Goldfinches in the growth by the roadside.

This Least Bittern was quite ar away, and I overexposed the shot. Lesson learned.

This Least Bittern was quite far away, and I overexposed the shot. Lesson learned.

Two of many dozens of Great Egrets we saw.

We were lucky to get a good look at these rare visitor.

We’ve had decent weather the last week, with little rain and tolerable temps. The water level at CBEC has remained quite low for 2-3 weeks, and the waders are taking advantage. I have never seen so many egrets there.

I had 100 Snowy Egrets today, 25 Great Egret, and 8 Tricoloreds, That’s a good day. I seem to have inadvertently popularized the place, as more photographers keep showing up.

Low water has revealed a lot of mud for the waders.

This Redhead hen should be far from here. She may be inured.

With so many birds competing for food, there’s the occasional disagreement.

These Tricolored Herons have decided to roost in a tree right above my head.

About 100 Canada Geese are present each morning.

I was startled to see these Glossy Ibis do a quick flyby.