CBA Field Trip to Ocean Springs, MS waste water facility: 12-6-08

The following report was provided by CBA Field Trip Coordinator, Horward Horne.  Thanks Howard.

An estimated 40 people showed up for the joint CBA and Mississippi Coastal Audubon field trip to the Seaman Road  Wastewater Treatment Facility near Ocean Springs. With such a large crowd we split into several groups and birded  different areas of the spray fields, lagoons, and settling ponds. After thoroughly covering an area each group would  then rotate to another. The round-robin method worked quite well. We finished our birding trip right at high noon.

 

Here is a list of 57 species I had noted for our group (with Mark Woodrey serving as our leader).

 

CINNAMON TEAL -1 beautiful male loafing on a pipe in the first settling pond.

Canda Goose -a fly-over flock of ~20 birds

Snow Goose -1 immature

Greater White-fronted Goose -4

Northern Pintail - male

Gadwall

Green-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Lesser Scaup

Greater Scaup

Ring-necked Duck

Bufflehead

Ruddy Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

King Rail (heard only)

Virginia Rail (heard only)

Sora

American Coot

Common Moorhen

Mississippi Sandhill Crane

Killdeer

Black-necked Stilt

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Dunlin

Dowitcher species (silent)

Bonaparte’s Gull

Mourning Dove

Northern Flicker (heard)

Eastern Phoebe

Tree Swallow

Carolina Wren

Marsh Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Northern Mockingbird

American Pipit

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Palm Warbler

Savannah Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Boat-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Cheers,

Howard Horne

Mobile, AL