Osprey Flying And a Black-necked Stilt, birding trip highlights

Yesterday I was on a birding field trip to southern New Jersey. Our primary purpose was to see migrating warblers, but the highlight of the day turned to be a Black-necked Stilt at Heislerville. We didn't arrive there until mid afternoon. The last thing we did was walk down a bike/walking path where we'd heard someone had spotted a Black-necked Stilt. We encountered a man with a scope who said he'd seen one there, but it had flown about five minutes previously. We then assumed this would be one of those times we just missing a special sighting. We continued on in spite of this. When we were nearing the end of the trail, someone in our group sighted it. It was the highlight of the day. What a great way to end a wonderful day.

As we returned to our cars, an Osprey flew overhead. Unfortunately, by the time I took the lens cap off my camera and focused on him, he had flown so high the pictures aren't as clear as they could have been had I reacted faster.

Nesting Mute Swans

The other day a friend invited me to see a pair of Mute Swans that have a nest directly across the lagoon from her house. The female never left the nest while I was there, so I didn't get to see the eggs. My friend's husband saw the eggs earlier when Momma left the nest. He said he was surprised at how large the eggs are. At first the male was nowhere to be seen, but then we saw him slowly meandering up the lagoon.

                                                                

Mommaon nest

 

                                                                      Dad arrives

                                                                    Dad showing off

                                                               Dad comes in for a closeup

 

Momma stays on her eggs