Weekly Report - 2017-04-21 - First Round of Spring Migrants
This past week of birding on the Nature Trail featured the first significant wave of spring migrants! Since weather was more favorable earlier in the week, I did two walks before school on Tuesday and Wednesday in hopes I would have different birds each day. BirdCast had said there was a significant movement of birds occurring on the night of the 18th into the 19th, which I hoped would bring new birds to the trail for the season, but both lists ended up being pretty similar. Either way, it was still great to get out for two days of spring migration counting!
The first round of migrant birds included our earliest migrating warbler species: Yellow-rumped Warbler and Palm Warbler. Also, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was observed by both sight and sound. My personal favorite bird of the week though was a Blue-headed Vireo, which I presume was the same individual over the two days, both seen and heard on the trail! The only previous record of this species on the trail was on April 25th, 2013 so this back to back observation represents the second and third record of this species on the trail!
Bethel Springs E.S.--Nature Trail Apr 19, 2017 6:51 AM Traveling 0.60 miles 50 Minutes All birds reported? Yes Comments: Walked the whole trail on a cool, overcast morning. Migration maps from the night before suggested a big push of migrants, but birds were not much different than yesterday. Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.4.2 Build 114 2 Canada Goose 1 Broad-winged Hawk -- FOY 1 Mourning Dove 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Blue-headed Vireo -- First heard then observed perched atop each Pin Oak by the trail head. 4 Blue Jay 3 American Crow 1 Tree Swallow 8 Carolina Chickadee 12 Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 House Wren 3 Carolina Wren 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 Eastern Bluebird -- Showing a courtship display in the trees above the second bench. 1 Hermit Thrush 18 American Robin 1 Brown Thrasher 1 European Starling 7 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Chipping Sparrow 8 White-throated Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 2 Eastern Towhee 9 Northern Cardinal 5 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 House Finch 4 American Goldfinch
Bethel Springs E.S.--Nature Trail Apr 18, 2017 7:11 AM Traveling 0.25 miles 24 Minutes All birds reported? Yes Comments: Woke up early so I came to the trail to catch any new migrants that arrived over break. Beautiful, sunny morning with temperatures in the 60s. Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.4.2 Build 114 2 Canada Goose 1 Mourning Dove 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Blue-headed Vireo -- Heard then seen. Singing across from the first bench of the trail. 1 Blue Jay 3 Tufted Titmouse 1 House Wren 2 Carolina Wren 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 Eastern Bluebird -- Not the usual pair in the upper parking lot! This time, I observed a pair scouting out the nest box in the meadow. 12 American Robin 1 Brown Thrasher 1 Northern Mockingbird 8 European Starling 2 Palm Warbler 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 Chipping Sparrow 3 White-throated Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 1 Eastern Towhee 5 Northern Cardinal 2 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 House Finch 1 American Goldfinch
