Platt Branch Feb. 26, 2020

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21 of us carpooled to Circle B Bar.  The closer we got to our destination the thicker the fog became.  No wind to mention hinted at the possibility that it would be a high count for species.  This prediction came to be.  Our first spot took place just inside the entrance.  Two beautiful and very large Great Horned Owls were perched in a tree but the fog prevented us from getting a good photo.  We decided on the way out after the fog lifted would be a better opportunity to get a photo but they were gone by then.  Once we arrived our group divided itself.  Some took the tram, some walked, and some did both.  What an amazing place.  This is truly one of our favorite trip sites.  If you have not been you should make it a point to go.  This trip brought new sightings including two rarely seen birds.  Tom and Janet Delaney added the Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Willow Flycatcher.  Then there was a bobcat wandering the trail.  

Holy cow...61 (+) Species... Not a record for us but an amazing count.

Ring billed Gull,     Mourning Dove,     Sandhill Crane,     Great Egret,     American Crow,     Boat-tailed Grackle,     Red-shouldered Hawk,     Loggerhead Shrike,     Kingfisher,     Anhinga,     Cattle Egret,     Starling,     Black Vulture,     Osprey,     Red-bellied Woodpecker,     Great Blue Heron,     Wood Stork,     Mockingbird,     Little Blue Heron,     Great Horned Owl,   Barred Owl,     Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher,     Tufted Titmouse,     Black-bellied Whistling Duck,     Cardinal,     Red-winged Blackbird,     Catbird,     Black and White Warbler,     Yellow-rumped Warbler,     House Wren,     Glossy Ibis,     Swamp Soarrow,     Common Yellowthroat,     D/Crested Cormorant,     Common Gallinule,     Eastern Phoebe,     Savannah Sparrow,     Painted Bunting,     Purple Gallinule,     Downy Woodpecker,     Palm Warbler,     Tri-colored Heron,     Tree Swallow,     Green Heron,     American Coot,     Fish Crow,     Snowy Egret,     Turkey Vulture,     Limpkin,     White Pelican,     Brown, Pelican,     Pied-billed Grebe,     Blue-headed Vireo,     Mottled Duck,     Bald Eagle,     White Ibis,     Pileated Woodpecker,     Ruby -throated Hummingbird,     White-eyed Vireo,     Yellow throated Warbler,     *Unidentifiable Tern,     

Red Shoulder Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, N. Mockingbiard, Mourning Dove, Am. Crow, Eastern Phoebe, Cattle Egret, Eastern Meadowlark, White Ibis, Savannah Sparrow, Mottled Duck, Robin, Catbird, Palm Warbler, Killdear, Loggerhead Shrike,  Tree Swallow, Boat Tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Bobwhite

Limpkin, Belted Kingfisher, Blue/Gray Gnatcatcher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great-crested Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ring-billed Gull, Osprey, Snail Kite, Little Blue Heron, Pine Warbler, Carolina Wren

Common Moorhen, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Cardinal, Ring-necked Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Fish Crow