Mother's Day Bird Walk with Haynes Miller and Alison Leary

We had a great day for the Mother's Day Bird Walk. For one thing, it wasn't raining. It was sunny and pleasant and we had a large turnout of over 18 people.

We started by the river where we saw black & white warblers, common yellowthroats, barn swallows, kingbirds, orioles, warbling vireos, yellow warblers, cardinals and blue gray gnatcatchers.

The pond was rather quiet, but in the soccer field area, we saw a yellow warbler building a nest in the same area that we saw one last year, red winged blackbirds, more black & white warblers, Baltimore orioles, cowbirds, house wrens, chickadees, yellow rumped warblers and some saw a Rose breasted grosbeak.

The lower gardens yielded more barn swallows, lots of yellow warblers, goldfinches, and a red-eyed vireo. One thing that was very noticeable was the lower numbers of song sparrows overall. They have been so abundant in the past, that there seems to be a decrease in their numbers here. Wonder what's going on...

In the upper gardens, we were finally rewarded with a grew view of the Rose-breasted grosbeak. It took a while to find it, but once we did, it was glorious - singing atop a tall tree.

Here is the official list of birds seen from Haynes:

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  4
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  4
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) (Colaptes auratus auratus/luteus)  2
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  1
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  8

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)  2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  5
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  12
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  2
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  5
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  3
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  15
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  10
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  4
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  5
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)  2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  12
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (Setophaga coronata coronata)  6
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  6
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  6
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  6
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  16
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  5