I went to this park this morning hoping to find some shorebirds. Many have already begun to flee their Arctic breeding grounds and are now heading south. The rocks at Col Sam are a good place to see them. No luck.

There were, however, lots of juvenile birds and here are some of them.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons scarcely resemble their parents.

Many Mallard ducklings are almost full-grown now but a few little ones are still about.

There were four kingfishers, so I assume that two were likely juveniles.

These photos show a mixture of mature and juvenile Common Terns. In juveniles, the black does not yet cover the forehead.

The now almost full-grown Red-necked Grebe juvenile is still here looking as if it wonders where its parents have disappeared to.

MYSTERY BIRD

I will identify it at the end of the post.

Other birds and sights:

MYSTERY BIRD

When I first saw this at a distance I thought that it was a Catbird because of the gray. Closer inspection shows it to be a Robin though we don’t see the orange belly.

NATURE POETRY

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th … – Milton (1608 – 1674)

Miles Hearn