10-2-10 CBA Ft. Morgan Field Trip

It was a glorious Saturday morning for the Coastal Birding Association's field trip to Ft. Morgan. A brisk northeast wind kept temperatures cool and the mosquitoes almost non-existent, conditions more common in late October than October 2. Besides beautiful weather, the birds were very cooperative with enough activity to keep eight birders entertained as we walked around the grounds of the fort. Most of the passerine activity occurred in the "Stables" and on the Gulf side of the first battery as you enter fort's grounds with surprisingly few birds in the "Middle Grounds." Here is the list I compiled for the morning:

Brown Pelican     10
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Great Blue Heron     1
Osprey     1
Sharp-shinned Hawk     5
Cooper's Hawk     2
Broad-winged Hawk     19
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Merlin     1
Peregrine Falcon     1
Semipalmated Sandpiper     1
Least Sandpiper     1
Pectoral Sandpiper     1
Laughing Gull     5
Royal Tern     5
Mourning Dove     X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo     1
Chuck-will's-widow     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     5
Northern Flicker     3
Eastern Wood-Pewee     1
Great Crested Flycatcher     2
White-eyed Vireo     8
Red-eyed Vireo     4
Warbling Vireo 1
Blue Jay     X
Carolina Chickadee     X
Carolina Wren     X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     5
Eastern Bluebird     3
Swainson's Thrush     1
Wood Thrush     15
Gray Catbird     15
Northern Mockingbird     X
Brown Thrasher     5
Tennessee Warbler     3
Yellow Warbler     1
Magnolia Warbler     8
Black-throated Green Warbler     4
Pine Warbler     3
Prairie Warbler     1
Palm Warbler     7
Bay-breasted Warbler     1
Black-and-white Warbler     2
American Redstart     6
Ovenbird     1
Common Yellowthroat     7
Hooded Warbler     1
Yellow-breasted Chat     2
Summer Tanager     1
Scarlet Tanager     1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak     2
Brown-headed Cowbird     1