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Lake Crabtree Loons



Howdy!

Joe and I went looking for spring migrants at Lake Crabtree in Raleigh
yesterday. We had our first Red-eyed Vireo of the spring, plus a few
gnatcatchers, but it was pretty quiet (we got a late start) as we walked
around looking in the trees. We just bought a new digital camera (Nikon
Coolpix 4500), so Joe wanted to practice taking pictures through the
scope. I figured he would only have cormorants and coots to practice
with. I was delighted when we saw NINE COMMON LOONS IN THEIR BEAUTIFUL
BREEDING COLORS!!!! We watched as they went back and forth in the same
area across the lake. This is the first time we've seen loons on Lake
Crabtree. Sometimes they were sleeping, but we got to see the foot
waggle and the stretching and flapping of wings that I love so much.
BEAUTIFUL BIRDS!!!

There were also nine scaup (probably Lesser, but they were pretty far
out) with two Ruddy Ducks. Along the beach area we counted six Caspian
Terns and three Laughing Gulls hanging out with many Ring-billed Gulls.

Seeing the loons more than made up for not seeing any warblers!!!

Happy birding! Karen Bearden
Raleigh, NC
chickadeebirders@earthlink.net