Photo: Black-crowned night heron by Derrick Johnson
Hello everyone,
What a fabulous day of birding we had! The south winds seemed to bring in the migrants all at once. The songs of Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Warbling Vireos, and more, filled the air during our whole route. There were so many birds that everyone was looking in different directions and calling out sightings to Cheryl and Marian, our intrepid compilers on this Spring Bird Count Day.
Swallows of many types were flying madly under both the Darrow Bridge and the Hayes Bridge while Chimney Swifts circled high in the air. The Purple Martins were in residence with a few peeking their heads of out their apartments. Orchard Orioles returned too, with the males looking dapper with their brick red coloring. We had a nice variety of warblers and we’re looking forward to the arrival of even more in the next week or two. The flycatchers have also returned, leading to many discussions about the ID of all those look-alike Empids. Blue Jays and Red-headed Woodpeckers are species that we typically only have during migration, so seeing them was a special treat.
We ended up with 81 species, which is a remarkably high number for us. Many thanks to all the counters who helped out with this important citizen science project.
BIRDERS: Marian, Nathan, Cheryl, Kristin, Mark C., Lillian, Jim, Matthew, Lucy, Eric, Jane, Mark W., Peter, Pam, Jennie, Tiffany, Marisa, Renate, Tracy, Monica, Bruce and welcome to Joe, Chris, Grant, Asif, Bhargavi, Nidha, Rishika, Shruti, Leanne, Mark L., Brett, Andrew and Dennis.
TIME: 8:00am to 12:15pm
WEATHER: Cloudy, 50s, rising into the 60s
Compiler: Cheryl and Marian
Photographers: Marisa, Tracy, Eric
Canada Goose Number observed: 47
Wood Duck Number observed: 8
Blue-winged Teal Number observed: 4
Northern Shoveler Number observed: 1
Mallard Number observed: 14
Mourning Dove Number observed: 3
Chimney Swift Number observed: 25
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 1
Spotted Sandpiper Number observed: 3
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 16
Herring Gull Number observed: 2
Caspian Tern Number observed: 2
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 2
American Bittern Number observed: 1
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 1
Green Heron Number observed: 4
Black-crowned Night-Heron Number observed: 3
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 2
Red-tailed Hawk Number observed: 1
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 1
Red-headed Woodpecker Number observed: 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker Number observed: 4
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 3
Northern Flicker Number observed: 4
American Kestrel Number observed: 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee Number observed: 3
Willow Flycatcher Number observed: 1
Least Flycatcher Number observed: 5
Empidonax sp. Number observed: 1
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 2
Blue-headed Vireo Number observed: 1
Warbling Vireo Number observed: 17
Blue Jay Number observed: 9
American Crow Number observed: 14
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 14
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Number observed: 14
Purple Martin Number observed: 14
Tree Swallow Number observed: 7
Barn Swallow Number observed: 24
Cliff Swallow Number observed: 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Number observed: 12
Red-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 2
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 11
House Wren Number observed: 5
European Starling Number observed: 28
Gray Catbird Number observed: 12
Brown Thrasher Number observed: 4
Veery Number observed: 1
Swainson's Thrush Number observed: 4
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 7
American Robin Number observed: 37
House Sparrow Number observed: 15
House Finch Number observed: 1
American Goldfinch Number observed: 7
Chipping Sparrow Number observed: 7
White-crowned Sparrow Number observed: 14
White-throated Sparrow Number observed: 21
Song Sparrow Number observed: 3
Lincoln's Sparrow Number observed: 1
Swamp Sparrow Number observed: 5
Eastern Meadowlark Number observed: 1
Orchard Oriole Number observed: 4
Baltimore Oriole Number observed: 19
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 47
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 14
Common Grackle Number observed: 23
Ovenbird Number observed: 1
Northern Waterthrush Number observed: 3
Blue-winged Warbler Number observed: 2
Black-and-white Warbler Number observed: 3
Tennessee Warbler Number observed: 2
Nashville Warbler Number observed: 3
Common Yellowthroat Number observed: 5
American Redstart Number observed: 2
Magnolia Warbler Number observed: 3
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 31
Black-throated Blue Warbler Number observed: 1
Palm Warbler Number observed: 43
Yellow-rumped Warbler Number observed: 17
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 11
Rose-breasted Grosbeak Number observed: 1
If you’d like more information about a bird, check out the All About Birds ID guide:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
Corrections, additions and comments are welcome.
Good birding everyone,
Jennie