An unusual day off during the week with perfect weather gave me excuses to ... (my imagination soared). I decided to make the two hour drive to Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge last Thursday (3-23-2023). Here is the area I visited.
I went there for the Woodpeckers. However, decided to explore other factors of the area. I started on the north end of Bluff Lake and saw the Gallinule (lifer for me). The Moorhen in the title photo was with a mate. Here is a video of them.
Spring is further along there than at my house. Insects and vegetation were advancing. Here are some of the lovely things I saw.
Buckeye in bloom
Great Egret
There were swarms of Slaty Skimmer dragonflies (and not a mosquito anywhere). Not a single dragonfly lit so no photo from that day. Here is one of my shots from last year.
I wish the Swallowtail had opened but it was intent on feeding.
Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly
All the photos above were shot at the visitor center (or near there). I finally made it over to the Woodpecker trail to look at the layout. Here is what I found.
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Sign at the parking lot
There is one main nest tree that is the center of the activity. I did see Woodpeckers there. They were busy hunting and gathering nesting material.
classic sap encrusted entrance to the nest.
I thought that Kinglet and Hummingbirds were hard to photograph. Until the Woodpeckers are predictably going to one spot (feeding chicks — as the sign proclaims) they are not camera ready. This is the only shot I could get after taking dozens of photos. The bird below was flying from one tree to another and avoiding me at all costs.
Here are 40 seconds of film showing the area and included sounds of other birds (also not visible). This could be a test of song identification (for those interested) because you will see no movement as you listen.
I got one lousy shot of a Broad-winged Hawk. It was circling with a group of 6 as they migrated through to points north.
The sun was high and so were the screeches
I’ll wrap this diary up with a Bug of the Day. This is a Horace’s Duskywing Butterfly (Ernnis horatius.) An early Spring visitor that prefers taller flowers to feed on. This one was resting.
Hope you have enjoyed the visit to Noxubee. I hope you’ll share the wonders have you seen?
