Slump Over?

Caspain Tern

Easter Sunday I had to work a double. After doing my normal job in the morning I spent the afternoon making muffins. Laurie came with me. It was extra money and we decided to put it towards our boat trips on our Maine vacation. During the day, there were reports of a Summer Tanager at Trustom. I was't going to drag Laurie down to South Kingston for a bird that probably came and left. 

When we got done with work it was too nice out for me to come home. Rather than go to South Kingston, we went to Barrington to look for Purple Martins and chill at Brickyard Pond. While we were in Barrington, more reports of good birds came in. I got anxiety at birds I might miss so we headed down.

Long story short, I didn't see the Summer Tanager. I had seen my friend's Jan and Sue. Jan saw the tanager but Sue hadn't. They left while I looked for the bird. After half an hour looking for it I decided to walk up the trail and see if I could find anything else. I ran into a bunch of birds and somehow pulled a Blue Grosbeak out of it. I texted Jan and she walked the mile back from the parking lot along with a whole crew of people. They all got on the bird. Blue Grosbeak is not only beautiful, but it is a southern species. For sure, it got blown up here from the constant south wind we had for days straight.  Although I didn't see the Summer Tanager the Grosbeak is a "better bird". Jan has reported to me some pretty rare birds this year, it was nice to finally return the favor.

Fast forward to today,

Sue, whom I mentioned above found a Cattle Egret in Matunuck. Cattle Egrets are very common in Florida but pretty rare up here. Usually one shows up a year. This year's bird was today. I was working, but knew I had to chase this rarity. As soon as I was done I went straight down. The bird was easy to see. A white heron type bird sticks out hanging with black angus.

After I saw the egret, I went birding with Sue. We found a pair of Caspian Terns. They are another species that I only see once or twice a year, always in the late summer or early fall, so they were a pleasant surprise. Besides the tern I found 4 other new year birds at Trustom (Baltimore Oriole, Cedar Waxwing, Magnolia Warbler, House Wren), 

I ended up dipping on a couple other birds that had been seen. However, it was a great day. I got five year birds. One of which I didn't see in RI last year (cattle egret). Hopefully, the slump is over... now if I could do something about the rain on my days off (supposed to rain Friday, Grrr!)