High Island

So for a professional development(PD) opportunity I was able to go birding and get inservice hours at the same time! The bad news was that the birds were not the best I have ever seen. But the good news is that I added new birds!!!

I showed up pretty early to get some personal birding before the actual PD. I did walk around a bit and there wasn't that much active. I did get to sneak up on a yellow breasted chat... Not a very good picture considering it was so dark... But a new bird to the list nonetheless.

Then as everyone showed up and they were telling us different information a scarlet tanager and a rose breasted grosbeak kept landing around her. To say the least I was slightly distracted. Not a great picture... He really didn't want to pose.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Photo by Shaun Owen

 Then we decided to take a walk down in search of some indigos... Nothing really exciting happened... It was a very very slow morning... When we got back to the main bleachers a Northern Waterthrush (new bird) decided to walk along the bank of the small water feature.

It was about 10 o'clock when we decided to check out the rookery. Besides the massive amounts of roseate spoonbills, cormorants, snowy egrets, and great egrets there wasn't much going on. The one bird that we did see had about 20 people trying to scope it out and it was just a Tennessee Warbler. They all thought they had seen a blackpoll so they were trying to work very hard for it. The one thing about that is that luck plays a huge factor.

That brings me to our lunch... We got back to Boy Scout Woods and started to eat lunch. Then all of a sudden a Blackpoll flew right in above us. Complete Luck!

Blackpoll Warbler, Photo by Shaun Owen

The pictures were not that great because of lighting.

Boy Scout Woods was a bust but I really had a good time and I want to thank everyone that was out there. So after everyone left I decided to blaze my regular spot... I traveled down to LaFitte's Cove... It wasn't much better but I did get some decent pictures.

Tennessee Warbler, Photo by Shaun Owen

Then there was this guy who did not want to stay still.

Blue Winged Warbler, Photo by Shaun Owen

Or this new bird to the list...

Red Eyed Vireo, Photo by Shaun Owen

But I really think the best picture of the day is the molting tanager.

Summer Tanager, Photo by Shaun Owen

After a few hours... I decided to get out of there. It was a long day but also exciting. Until next time happy birding!

Current Moderate Year Count - 162 Species
Recently Added Species - Blackpoll, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Yellow Breasted Chat, Northern Waterthrush, Red Eyed Vireo