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