Photo: Black-crowned night heron by Derrick Johnson

Hello everyone,

It was family day again on our walk. There were two Wood Duck families, one with 3 teenagers and one with 7 itty bitty ducklings who were light enough to walk on the lily pads. A mama raccoon with 3 young ones walked along the shore of the east lagoon. A Baltimore Oriole was on their nest in the Japanese Garden and a male and female Orchard Oriole were feeding nestlings. The House Wrens who nested in light fixture #40 were seen taking food into the base of the bulb socket.

A Black-crowned Night Heron was standing guard in the Japanese Garden and many Cliff Swallows were gathering mud for their nests along the shore of the lagoon. A Great-crested Flycatcher perched at the top of a tree giving us great views. One of the most interesting sights of the day was a muskrat who swam across the lagoon, jumped onto a tree branch that was hanging in the water and then scurried up the branch into the middle of the tree. Who knew that muskrats climbed trees? I sure didn’t!

BIRDERS: Cheryl, Eric, Jennie, Mark C., Leslie, Nathan, Gary, Jane, Emilie, Tracy, Stacey, Nick and welcome to Annie, Larry, Alex, Paul, and Leah and Alton who were visiting from Alabama.

TIME:   8:00am to Noon         

WEATHER: Sunny, high 50s, light breeze

Compiler: Cheryl

Photographers: Eric and Gary

1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 83

2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 11

3. Mallard   Number observed: 4

4. Chimney Swift   Number observed: 6

5. Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Number observed: 2

6. Spotted Sandpiper   Number observed: 1

7. Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 4

8. Herring Gull   Number observed: 1

9. Caspian Tern   Number observed: 2

10. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 2

11. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 2

12. Green Heron   Number observed: 2

13. Black-crowned Night-Heron   Number observed: 3

14. Northern Flicker   Number observed: 3

15. Willow Flycatcher   Number observed: 1

16. Eastern Phoebe   Number observed: 1

17. Great Crested Flycatcher   Number observed: 1

18. Eastern Kingbird   Number observed: 3

19. Warbling Vireo   Number observed: 6

20. American Crow   Number observed: 6

21. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 2

22. Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Number observed: 4

23. Purple Martin   Number observed: 14

24. Barn Swallow   Number observed: 13

25. Cliff Swallow  Number observed: 11

26. White-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 1

27. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Number observed: 5

28. House Wren   Number observed: 2

29. European Starling   Number observed: 25

30. Gray Catbird   Number observed: 11

31. American Robin   Number observed: 11

32. Cedar Waxwing   Number observed: 1

33. House Sparrow   Number observed: 2

34. House Finch   Number observed: 2

35. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 4

36. Song Sparrow   Number observed: 3

37. Orchard Oriole   Number observed: 3

38. Baltimore Oriole   Number observed: 8

39. Red-winged Blackbird   Number observed: 11

40. Brown-headed Cowbird   Number observed: 6

41. Common Grackle   Number observed: 5

42. Common Yellowthroat   Number observed: 2

43. Yellow Warbler   Number observed: 6

44. Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 2

45. Indigo Bunting   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