Pollinator Palooza!

Today was the third annual Pollinator Palooza in Estabrook Park, and they could not have had a better day for it. It started out cool, but it warmed up quickly, the breeze has been light, and the skies have not been cloudy all day. In the past, they have had Charles Hagner lead bird walks in the morning, but Mr. Hagner couldn’t make it today, so they asked me to fill in, and, except for me arriving late for the 9:30 walk because I thought it started at 10 am, I don’t think it went half bad. We had no injuries, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t lose anybody.

The 6:30 group started right on time and got to see a blackburnian warbler right off the bat, seen here being all coy with my camera, …

the mallard hen and her duckling, wood ducks, one of which is up in a tree here, and a slew of other birds.

A family of four had to hit the road right at 7:30, but a couple of sharp-eyed guys had the time to keep looking, so we went north along the river and saw a green heron, …

my first ever yellow-bellied flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris), …

my first killdeer on the river of this season, …

the first warbling vireo that let me capture an image good enough for me to use as a positive ID, …

and a great horned owl being mobbed by crows on the west side of the southern island. Man, I’d hate to be on the business end of those talons, right?

The 9:30 group, which was kind enough to wait for me to drag my butt to the start at 9:55, included three subscribers to this blog and got to see a ruby-throated hummingbird by the pond, …

which even perched for a second if we failed to capture it in flight, …

a baby snapping turtle gobbling up polliwogs in the river, …

which I believe are from the toads we saw there just recently, …

the red-headed woodpecker, and a slew of other birds.

Thanks to everyone who came out today and helped me spot all these amazing sights. I hope we get to do it again sometime.