Hello everyone,
The weather forecasters were spot on this time, and just as they predicted, we started out with light, pretty snow first thing in the morning followed by snow of increasing intensity as the walk progressed. The park was beautiful but it’s hard to see the birds with snowy binoculars.
We had several nice surprises today. Two Hermit Thrushes and three Cedar Waxwings greeted us on the center path, as did many American Robins, Northern Cardinals and European Starlings. Dark-eyed Juncos were liberally sprinkled throughout the park. A pair of Hooded Mergansers were just visible through a curtain of snow.
Our resident Bald Eagle put on a good show for us. We first spotted it swooping low near the Darrow Bridge, but we got nice views of it from several other vantage points on the walk. At one point the huge flock of Canada Geese took flight so we wondered if the eagle buzzed them and scared them off.
BIRDERS: Jennie, Mike, Cheryl, Mark C., Mark W., Eric, Madhu, Luther, Leslie, Andy
TIME: 8:00am to 10:20am
WEATHER: 26 degrees, snow
Compiler: Cheryl
Canada Goose Number observed: 329
Hooded Merganser Number observed: 2
Red-breasted Merganser Number observed: 4
Mourning Dove Number observed: 1
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 5
Bald Eagle Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Northern Flicker Number observed: 3
American Crow Number observed: 5
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 6
European Starling Number observed: 50
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 3
American Robin Number observed: 24
Cedar Waxwing Number observed: 3
American Goldfinch Number observed: 2
American Tree Sparrow Number observed: 1
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 26
White-throated Sparrow Number observed: 3
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 16
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: American goldfinch by Will Stuart