Biitern Tour (Red Slough 4-17-09)

Ford Hendershot gave my mom and I a tour of the Red Slough on Friday, 4-17-09. Met at 1:30pm with occasional rain and thunderstorms.

We wanted to see bitterns, moorhens, rails, alligators, etc. Ford did a great job of making appointments with 3 of those. Not only did we get to see 1 American Bittern; we saw at least 14! They were everywhere.

We also saw a sandpiper that we couldn't ID, but after looking at the pictures I'm sure it is a Spotted Sandpiper. Link to picture is in the list. We also saw a dark duck, but didn't get pictures of it.

List is in order of appearance (The first 3 were on the way in, Idabel to the Red Slough).

1. Mourning Doves
2. European Starlings
3. Mockingbirds
4. American Crows
5. Eastern Bluebirds
6. Great Egrets
7. Great Blue Herons
8. White Ibis (1 group had 8, another group had 20) - pic
9. Dark Ibis
10. Northern Harrier
11. Pie-billed Grebe
12. American Bittern (at least 14) (life for both of us) - pic
13. American Coot
14. Wood Ducks
15. Red-winged Blackbirds
16. Black-crowned Nightherons
17. Yellow-rumped Warblers
18. Blue-winged Teals
19. Scissortail Flycatchers
20. Meadowlarks
21. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
22. Northern Cardinals
23. Common Moorhen
24. Vesper Sparrows
25. Eastern Kingbirds
26. Tree Swallows
27. Sandpiper - pic
28. Barn Swallows
29. Yellow-crowned Nightherons
30. Dark Duck
31. Red-bellied Woodpeckers
32. Green Heron
33. Black Vulture
34. White-crowned Sparrows
35. Red-tailed Hawk
36. Eastern Phoebes
37. Canada Geese
38. Snowy Egrets
39. Little Blue Herons
40. Cattle Egrets
41. Northern Shovelers
42. Savannah Sparrows
43. Blue Jays
44. Coopers Hawk
45. Green-winged Teal
46. Red Headed Woodpecker (on the way out, still within Red Slough boundaries)

Also saw: Alligator (pic), rabbit, mink.