Hello everyone,
It was a gorgeous day for our walk, which was one of the outings offered through the inaugural Urban Birding Festival. We had eight birders who chose our walk out of the many options offered and we hope that they will all join us again.
Upon arrival, we noticed a very large, newly built wasp nest in a tree right next to our meeting spot. We have noticed that there have been more wasps around during the last couple weeks so we weren’t too surprised to find a nest. The insects are kind of pretty but we don’t plan on getting close to the nest. We’ll let them have their space and we’ll move our meeting spot over a few feet.
We were treated to the sight of a Great Blue Heron flying up to the top peak of the museum and gracefully landing there. We’ve never seen a heron do that before and we all enjoyed its dramatic pose.
We found Osaka snoozing in his/her bedroom in a tree in the garden. While we were there, a Great Egret flew into Osaka’s usual fishing spot and s/he was not happy about that. However, realizing that the egret was a much larger bird, Osaka flew into the small evergreen bush next to the favored spot and gave the egret the evil eye from a protected vantage point. The egret got the message, flew away, and Osaka reclaimed his/her spot.
There was a Warbling Vireo singing away like it was spring, but the Starlings have molted into their spotted winter plumage. The male Wood Ducks are regaining their magnificent colors. We had large flocks of Chimney Swifts throughout the walk. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was spotted again this week and we had a large variety of confusing and not-so-confusing fall warblers.
BIRDERS: Luther, Jennie, Mike, Marian, Dan, Kristin, Eric, Lucy, Paul, Cheryl, Roger, John, Gary, Raui, Jack, David, Darby, Maddy, Audrey, Marisa, Eileen, Monica, Mark, Sandra, Larry Pam, and welcome to Kendall, Beth, Dan, Kate, Alex, Elizabeth, Bill, Tessa, Molly and Wade.
TIME: 8:00am to 12:30pm
WEATHER: Mid 60s, sunny
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Marisa, Eric, Paul, Mike Jennie
Canada Goose Number observed: 30
Wood Duck Number observed: 10
Mallard Number observed: 7
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Number observed: 1
Chimney Swift Number observed: 41
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Number observed: 4
Solitary Sandpiper Number observed: 1
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 3
Herring Gull Number observed: 1
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 4
Black-crowned Night Heron Number observed: 2
Green Heron Number observed: 2
Great Egret Number observed: 4
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 7
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 5
Hairy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Northern Flicker Number observed: 2
American Kestrel Number observed: 1
Least Flycatcher Number observed: 1
Philadelphia Vireo Number observed: 1
Warbling Vireo Number observed: 2
Red-eyed Vireo Number observed: 3
Blue Jay Number observed: 3
American Crow Number observed: 1
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 17
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 2
House Wren Number observed: 1
European Starling Number observed: 3
Gray Catbird Number observed: 8
Swainson's Thrush Number observed: 5
American Robin Number observed: 3
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 2
House Sparrow Number observed: 3
House Finch Number observed: 6
American Goldfinch Number observed: 14
Ovenbird Number observed: 1
Northern Waterthrush Number observed: 2
Black-and-white Warbler Number observed: 1
Nashville Warbler Number observed: 4
American Redstart Number observed: 3
Cape May Warbler Number observed: 7
Magnolia Warbler Number observed: 1
Bay-breasted Warbler Number observed: 8
Blackpoll Warbler Number observed: 7
Black-throated Blue Warbler Number observed: 2
Palm Warbler Number observed: 1
Pine Warbler Number observed: 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler Number observed: 1
Black-throated Green Warbler Number observed: 2
Wilson's Warbler Number observed: 2
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 2
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
Photo: Pectoral sandpiper by Jaime Lyons