Dauphin Island

Yellow Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak Scarlet Tanager   Egret Taking Off   

Here are a few more photos from Dauphin Island. We've seen all of these in NJ, but it was great to see them all in one day.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

This morning's scan of the yard turned up a rare visitor. Chris was doing household stuff with one eye out a window at all times checking for spring migrants. She dashed out when she thought she saw a Towhee in the garden. Couldn't find the Towhee but heard a lovely song in the trees. This Rose-breasted Grosbeak stayed and sang for around 10 minutes. At first he was hidden in the few leaves that are out, but he repositioned in a different tree for this clear shot. Not sure if the Towhee was a false alarm as it never turned up again. There are some similarities in appearance between the two birds, but the locations were so different that it likely could have been one of each. We'll make sure to keep some sunflower seed out, which is what the Grosbeaks like, but unfortunately the squirrels like it as well.

Male and Female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak from Cape May

 

 

 

 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

This was our second exciting new sighting today. We had seen a night heron down by the damn, so we went home to get our camera. When we got back, not only were we lucky enough that the heron was still there, but this Grosbeak flew right in front of us. He's another one we look forward to seeing more of.