Graeme and I went to Bombay Hook yesterday and had our most successful trip yet. I also got a Virginia Rail (Lifer).

Black Skimmers, Terns, Egrets, a Common Yellowthroat, Eagles, Night Herons and others had us busy snapping photos for several hours. My count was over 1900 photos, the most ever.

There were plenty of flies, and it was getting very hot by 0930. Graeme has some hydrocortisone cream which was very effective for the insect bites.

A Double Crested Cormorant in silhouette.

We saw only two Bald Eagles.

There were many Forster’s Terns.

A few Caspian Terns were fishing with the other birds.

Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Virginia Rail, a first for me.

This Ruddy Duck didn’t migrate.

Mute Swans are regulars.

Two Green Herons were fishing in a small pond.

We found 8 or more Black Crowned Night Herons.

Wood Duck ducklings were numerous.

Many Egrets were feeding in the pools.

This Snow Goose should be long gone.

We were lucky to find these Sandhill Cranes, who are rare visitors.

About three years ago I found a pair of Trumpeter Swans near me in Annapolis, MD. The trumpeter Swan Society said they were juveniles and wouldn’t mate for a while yet. They are generally monogamous and mate for life.

Last year it looked as though they were going to mate, but it didn’t happen .This year they started nest building  in early April, and started incubating in late April. This can take over a month, and I found three cygnets this morning.

I’ve got a lot of photos and video, so I’ll just try to post the best of the lot.

This video is from 6/1/22

These Cygnets are probably two days old.

Peek-a-boo!

Trumpeter Swans are the largest flying birds, with big feet and very large eggs.

I figured out how they were approaching the pond and managed to get some flight shots.

This was taken at their other hangout,. a pond which has a high embankment.