Birding the Wishbone Trail
Yesterday we embarked on a hike from the bridge on the South End of LSSI to the Wishbone Trail, following hammocks and crossing the low marsh on the way. Fiddler crabs marched by the thousands across the marsh, scuttling into burrows and out of sight. The birding was quite eventful for a warm late spring morning. The calls of male Orchard Orioles continuously flowed around us, and on many occasions the dark, brick-red male songbirds could be seen flitting in the low branches of the gnarled Live Oaks. Watching through binoculars, we saw the Orioles and several other birds feeding on bright green, plump caterpillars, and sometimes transporting the caterpillars to young birds or to nest sites. Many of the birds we saw, such as pairs of Eastern Towhee and Carolina Chickadee, appeared to be defending territories and busily collecting food. A Red-bellied Woodpecker flew from the side of a tree with an insect in its bill to another tree, and leaned down into a cavity to feed its young. The young woodpecker popped out of the cavity and let us have a peek at it!
Other birds encountered on the hike included Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tri-colored Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-pewee, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-throated Warbler, Northern Cardinal, and Red-winged Blackbird!
