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I got up early and went to Holla Bend NWR Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot not too cold.  I took the usual loop clockwise around the auto tour with a stop at the old boat ramp and dam.  I had never walked out to the dam before. Its not much as dams go but it seems to keep the water in.  It wasn’t too birdy today but I did manage to get a first of year Philadelphia Vireo.  They’ve got a number of new signs up, assigning names to areas I didn’t know had names.

Species seen or heard:

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Philadelphia Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Sedge Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Meadowlark
Brown-headed Cowbird

I birded Bell Slough Saturday morning.  I started at the dam on the north side and wrapped up with a short visit to the main entrance on the south side.  I had my best birds of the excursion as I arrived when about 12 Common Terns flew over apparently leaving Lake Conway.  Inside the WMA I quickly noticed I had forgotten rubber boots as my shoes became soaked through from the dew.  It won’t surprise you to learn the water is way down there like so many places.  It was not incredibly birdy but I did see a Canada Warbler, a Yellow-throated Warbler, and an Alder Flycatcher along with 20 other species of more common birds.

The south side was quiet, perhaps due to the time of day but I only saw 10 species there and nothing notable. Just too dry maybe.

I birded Cook’s Landing Friday morning.  The temperature was very nice.  One of the first birds I saw was a single Caspian Tern working the backwater. Later I saw him flying up and down the river downstream from the dam.  Inside Pfeifer Loop trail, I encountered two House Wrens (a year bird for me).  Nothing else notable was seen.

Here are some pictures of the tern. I hope you like them.

https://jamesdixon.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6033
https://jamesdixon.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6030
https://jamesdixon.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6027
https://jamesdixon.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6024

Plus some non-avian flyers:
Pipevine Swallowtail
https://jamesdixon.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6039

Viceroy
https://jamesdixon.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6042