Day 18.173: Thursday birding at East Point

Our regular weekly nature group met near East Point Sanctuary today. Here is some of what we saw:

We parked near Great Pond and spotted this black-crowned night heron

Gray catbird spotted as we walked along the road

Harbor seals spotted from near the sanctuary entrance

This ribwort plantain had attracted a common eastern bumblebee and a margined calligrapher hover fly

Yellow warbler

Song sparrow

From the north side of the sanctuary, we could see this osprey nest

Several cedar waxwings gave us some nice poses

In the channel near Gooseberry Island we spotted this black guillemot

Another look at a cedar waxwing including its waxy wingtips and stark yellow tail stripe

Common yellowthroat

On Gooseberry Island (a grand name for a narrow band of rocks barely clear of the tide), two American oystercatchers

Song sparrow

On the higher part of Gooseberry Island, nesting double-crested cormorants

Another view of the oystercatchers

Terns flying north were carrying fish, then returning empty-beaked to the south

Staghorn sumac

Eastern kingbird

Pearl crescent

Great mullein

Eider ducks and ducklings

Sea plantain - some of us tasted the leaves

Hedge bindweed

Wild radish

More eiders

Common tern on the south side of the point - this one was not having much luck while we watched

The first monarch I've seen this year - at the sumac flowers

Yellow rattle (and yes we rattled some dry seed pods)

Back near Great Pond, a tree swallow

Snowy egret