Photo: American tree sparrow by Katharine Spencer

Hello everyone,

It rained for just about our whole walk, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily, but once again, bad weather meant good birding.

A huge flock of Double-crested Cormorants was on the east lagoon when we arrived. Unfortunately, three of them found their way on to the fenced off Darrow Bridge and couldn’t seem to get out. They flew in, or course, but we speculate that that their feathers then got wet in the rain and they couldn’t fly out until they dried off. They had the ability to exit the bridge via the east end of the wrought iron fence because the bars are a bit wider apart than on the north and south sides, but it didn’t seem like they realized this and were frantically trying to get through the bars on the south side of the bridge. Amir valiantly climbed over the fence and tried to herd them to the east side. A couple of them were able to escape that way but one was just not getting it and was very unhappy with Amir. Kudos to him for trying to help, and hopefully the bird eventually got out and joined its flock.

Yellow-rumped Warblers have arrived and were spotted throughout our walk. Fox Sparrows were present and were singing. A Wilson’s Snipe was found near the old tennis courts. Three Ring-necked Ducks were paddling about the east lagoon and an Osprey flew over with a big fish in its talons. A female mallard was sitting on top of the pagoda in the Japanese Garden, quacking away to two males who were walking around on the ground below her. It was a funny sight.

A highlight of the morning was a Purple Finch, a fairly rare sight in our park, posing nicely for us and singing constantly. What a beautiful bird!

BIRDERS: Mark W., Luther, Jennie, Mike, Leslie, Roger, Mark C., Cheryl, Madhu, Suzanne, Katie, Traci, Caterina, Sarah, Amir, Nolan, Monica, Pat R., and welcome to Jocelyn, Natalie and Niry (visiting from Edmonton).

TIME: 8:00am to 11:15am

WEATHER: 50 degrees, rain

Compiler: Cheryl

1. Canada Goose   Number observed: 19

2. Wood Duck   Number observed: 5

3. Blue-winged Teal   Number observed: 1

4. Northern Shoveler   Number observed: 5

5. Mallard   Number observed: 22

6. Ring-necked Duck   Number observed: 3

7. Red-breasted Merganser   Number observed: 40

8. Mourning Dove   Number observed: 1

9. American Coot   Number observed: 2

10. Wilson's Snipe   Number observed: 1

11. Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 48

12. American Herring Gull   Number observed: 2

13. Caspian Tern   Number observed: 2

14. Pied-billed Grebe   Number observed: 2

15. Horned Grebe   Number observed: 2

16. Double-crested Cormorant   Number observed: 215

17. Black-crowned Night Heron   Number observed: 2

18. Great Blue Heron   Number observed: 2

19. Osprey   Number observed: 1

20. Cooper's Hawk   Number observed: 1

21. Bald Eagle   Number observed: 1

22. Belted Kingfisher   Number observed: 3

23. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Number observed: 10

24. Red-bellied Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

25. Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 4

26. Hairy Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

27. Northern Flicker   Number observed: 7

28. Eastern Phoebe   Number observed: 15

29. American Crow   Number observed: 3

30. Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 5

31. Tree Swallow   Number observed: 1

32. Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Number observed: 1

33. Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Number observed: 15

34. Golden-crowned Kinglet   Number observed: 14

35. White-breasted Nuthatch   Number observed: 6

36. Brown Creeper   Number observed: 5

37. European Starling   Number observed: 5

38. Hermit Thrush   Number observed: 3

39. American Robin   Number observed: 40

40. House Sparrow   Number observed: 5

41. House Finch   Number observed: 3

42. Purple Finch   Number observed: 2

43. American Goldfinch   Number observed: 1

44. Chipping Sparrow   Number observed: 3

45. Field Sparrow   Number observed: 2

46. Fox Sparrow   Number observed: 7

47. Dark-eyed Junco   Number observed: 34

48. White-throated Sparrow   Number observed: 2

49. Song Sparrow   Number observed: 5

50. Swamp Sparrow   Number observed: 3

51. Eastern Towhee   Number observed: 1

52. Red-winged Blackbird   Number observed: 18

53. Brown-headed Cowbird   Number observed: 25

54. Common Grackle   Number observed: 6

55. Palm Warbler   Number observed: 3

56. Yellow-rumped Warbler   Number observed: 25

57. Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 4

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