Date: 4/30/25 7:06 am From: Jane Frazier <janefraz2828...> Subject: Mississippi Gulf Coast and Binder Lake Birds
Heavy thunderstorms over the weekend delayed by almost a day Shirley Seabaugh and I meeting with the Mississippi Ornithological Society but about noon Saturday we made it to Bay St. Louis, MS. A trip then to some water impoundments did not disappoint. Seen were Little Blue Heron, Anhinga on nest, Purple Gallinule up close, Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, King Rail (heard), Solitary Sandpiper, and RUFF. We were pleased to see so many young naturalists on the trip of college or grad school age. Driving on the roads sometimes which were covered in tall grasses and wondering where the road was was sometimes challenging! On our own we did the beaches for Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, at least four Loggerhead Shrikes, Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlins, Least Sandpipers, Brown Pelicans, flying Forster's or Common Tern?, Forrster's Terns, Royal Terns, Least Tern, Sanderlings, Herring Gulls, Willet, Snowy Egret, and in a park a White Winged Dove. Mississippi Ornithological is a friendly group and is glad to welcome anyone who wants to join their trips. Outside of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson, Shirley and I glimpsed a Prothonotary Warbler while the hotel pond sported a Green Heron..
Early last week at Binder Lake, Cole County, we saw Northern Waterthrush, three Palm Warblers, b g gnatcatcher, and Baltimore Orioles.
Oh and the dolphin cruise at Gulfport produced several surfacing dolphins. Another good outing if you are down there. And you can take the ferry ride to be put on Ship Island for about three hours.
The trip from St. Louis to the coast is about a day and a half. Dodging the thunderstorms down and back in MO was the tricky part.
Jane Frazier Jefferson City
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