Delta Naturalists Society

It was another gorgeous day, a little hazy, but mostly not too hot. A group of five on Wed met at 8:30ish.

We watched Purple Martins actively building nests on and in old pylons, some in cavities in the post sides, and others in cavities on the tops of the posts. We forget sometimes that birds can be creative if man isn’t involved.

The first corner yielded a very loud actively singing bird that we could not spot, but on the way back, Brian used his BirdNet app to record it, and it reported a Lazuli Bunting, which he also spotted shortly afterwards. The app also confirmed a Chipping Sparrow in the blueberry fields.

We watched several Bullock’s Orioles fly-over close to that corner. A Grey Catbird serenaded us at length and posed for photos. We managed to catch the Yellow-breasted Chat as well, and for some, that was a lifer. Yellow Warblers were active as were Willow Flycatchers, Eastern Kingbirds, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and many blackbirds and Cowbirds. We were treated to Osprey flyovers, but there were no fishing shows similar to the Tuesday group.

Dragonfly of  the day (both days) was the Dot-tailed Whiteface, a lovely black dragonfly with a white face and a yellow dot on top of one segment on its lower abdomen.

Math challenge—Tuesday group got 34 total, and Wed group got 35 total, with each group seeing 8 species that the other group did not see. How many birds were seen in total? If someone thinks they have the correct answer, please post. Math is not my forte. 
Marion S.

Photos on flickr