January 22, 2009
MLK weekend birding
Memorial Park is a short walk from my house. While it suffers much disturbance from dog-walkers and joggers (myself included), there are some decent wooded trails, a creek and a duckpond which make for a reasonable pre-work birding walk. On my last visit I was pleased to come across a ground-feeding flock of American Goldfinch, with smaller numbers of Dark-eyed Junco and Pine Siskins. It's an irruption year for the latter species around here.
I rustled up 6 species of woodpeckers, and managed photos of Pileated, Red-bellied and Downy.
A couple of Brown Creepers were also in evidence.
On campus, I came across my first sizeable flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers.
A Pine Warbler was feeding among them.
The wet flush that held last week's Fox Sparrow had a Hermit Thrush feeding out in the open.
By the end of the week the temperature had really dropped (-11C/13F on my cycle ride into work felt very cold!). On Saturday I tried the state botanical garden at dawn for displaying American Woodcock. I heard a couple of buzz notes from the far side of the river, but no visuals. Given the chilly temperatures, I tried to stayed in the sunlight in the power line cut. Over a couple of hours I noted several species including a Winter Wren, and had great looks at a couple of Field Sparrows...
... as well as flyovers by Pileated Woodpecker and Red-shouldered Hawk.
The open grassland near the garden's entrance held a Red-winged Blackbird flock, Eastern Meadowlark, a few Killdeer and the local race of Savannah Sparrow.
I returned here on Sunday at dusk, and was thrilled to witness 4 Woodcocks in their twittering, bat-like display flight. They are much smaller and dumpier than their European counterparts. Just prior to the woodcock show, several hundred Common Grackles flew in to roost.
On MLK Monday I cycled up the Greenway to bird Cook's Trail as far as Oxbow Lake. Along the way I got much better views of a flock of about 12 Rusty Blackbirds.
Also encountered were small flocks of Eastern Bluebirds and Purple Finches.
I came across this Black Vulture among a group of roosting Turkey Vultures.
Note its small size compared to the latter...
... and the extremely short tail in flight.
At the Oxbow Lake I saw a flock of 30 Pine Siskins. All the regular waterfowl were present, and I was able to add Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed Grebe and a surprise Common Yellowthroat to my BIGBY yearlist, taking it up to 66.
Posted by rjhall at January 22, 2009 3:46 PM