New Arrivals Continue

Today was wonderfully pleasant and cool. The feel of early fall is in the air as little drops of dew are edging most flowers and grasses early in the morning. I was only at the park a few minutes when Haynes arrived and shortly afterwards Jane appeared. Eventually a fellow named Glenn joined us as well. In a way it seemed quiet, but on the other hand we actually saw quite a lot! In the lower gardens we saw goldfinches, song sparrows, chickadees, catbirds, robins, bluejays and a common yellowthroat.

However, we had some new migrant friends such as a beautiful Nashville warbler and some Savannah sparrows (pictured right). There were several house finches and much discussion about the difference between the house finch and the purple finch. A house wren was heard scolding in the scrub and a group of cowbirds were seen high in a tree. Haynes spotted an indigo bunting which was very drab and barely a hint of blue on its sides and tail tip. A young red-tailed hawk flew right overhead and we had a wonderful look at it. Very elegant and powerful.


Jane had seen something with a white tail earlier and thought it was a fox. As we were about to head up the path, there it was - trotting across the path and then it disappeared in the brush. We have now had several sightings as has Duane Hillis who lives next door. So this is our Nahanton fox.

In the upper gardens we were excited to see that some white throated sparrows have arrived and we had a great view of a red-eyed vireo that was gorging on the grapes towards the back of the gardens. A small warbler was barely seen and Glenn thought it might be a Canada warbler, but it disappeared into the bushes and we couldn't confirm one way or the other what it was.

Jane had heard a barred owl last night outside her house in Auburndale, so we decided to take the swamp trail to see if we might see our Nahanton barred owl, but we didn't see anything.

Can't wait to see what next weekend will bring.