The Elusive Warbling Vireo

One of our Warbling Vireos Singing

57 degrees on a sunny Sunday.

The lower gardens were filled with tree swallows, robins, chipping sparrows, yellow warblers and house wrens. Titmice, catbirds, song sparrows, cardinals, chickadees, blue jays and goldfinches were also present. Spring is heating up!

In the upper gardens, I saw a Baltimore oriole couple and this beautiful Warbling vireo singing. A red-winged blackbird was yakking and I had another opportunity to see some yellow rumps. Had a nice view and first sighting of some blue-gray gnatcatchers as well.

Soccer field was quiet except for some robins, orioles and yellow warblers.

My first yellow rump sighting

Chipping Sparrow

At 6:45 a.m. it was cloudy but clearing and about 48 degrees.

The tree swallows and some cardinals greeted me in the parking lot and lots of yellow warblers singing. The lower gardens had our usual residents - robins, blue jays, song sparrows and our summer residents - cowbirds. A bright, crisp chipping sparrow was hanging out in a crabapple tree.

The upper gardens were much the same with the addition of some titmice, Canada geese overhead, catbirds, chickadees, and my first yellow rumps of the season. Yay!! I saw one unusual one that had a yellow throat. I poured through  my Sibley guide and it seemed to be the Audubon, although I hear they are rare around here, but it's the only thing that matched what I saw. In addition, there were goldfinches, downy woodpeckers and more cowbirds.

Saw an eastern phoebe down by the river, but not sign of it nesting yet. Woodcock meadow was quiet save for a downy, chipper and mourning dove.

The soccer field had a kinglet, blue heron, red-bellied woodpecker and Haynes saw a muskrat or beaver in the pond.

A new path!

The Boyscouts have rebuilt the path system above the lower garden: the old access road up towards the brick building, a cross path over to the edge of the golf course, and a winding pathway back to the side of the lower garden. It's wonderful! A tremendous addition to our park. Thank you!

A morning circuit with Suzette, Ian, and David, brought 34 species. Newcomers: two singing Baltimore Orioles, lots of Gray Catbirds, and a Black-and-white Warbler. Also we refound the Field Sparrow pictured by Suzette last week (or another bird; but at exactly the same spot).

The criminal vandalism of the Ailanthus tree near the lower garden plots has continued: the original girdling has been enlarged. You can see the pile of sawdust at the base of the tree. 

We encountered  a sleepy pair of racoons high in the tree screen between the soccer field and the pond.

Haynes' List

With Suzette. Mostly clear, still, 47 deg

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 2
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 1
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 3
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 6
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 20
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 2 more; nesting under the bridge
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 3
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 8
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 4 Singing at different locations. They arrived a week ago
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 1 upper field
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 12
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 2
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) 1 JCC
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 3
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 3
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) (Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis) 4
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 8
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 6
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 2
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 5
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 10
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 3 JCC

First warbler to appear (at least for me)

It was 45 degrees at 7:30 a.m., clear and sunny.

I started in the lower gardens as usual and was immediately greeted by a cardinal couple, tree swallows and a red winged blackbird. Song sparrows were singing, blue jays calling and robins foraging in the field. As I looked more closely, I saw this little guy and was excited to realize it was a field sparrow in a field!!

As I headed to the upper gardens there were titmice and more robins and cardinals. I stopped to watch the little hole in the birch that had so interested the chickadees last weekend and

Palm Warbler

saw them busily flying in and out. Looks like they are hoping to raise their young there. At the same time, I saw a little brown bird perch on a tiny, bare branch. It was a house wren! Then I saw a flash of yellow, and there was a beautiful palm warbler nearby. Very exciting.

The upper gardens yielded more of the same but with a cowbird high in a tree.  Jonathan appeared and told me he had seen a hermit thrush down in the lower gardens.

Saw a white-throated sparrow on the way to the pond which was very quiet, as was the river. In the meadow, we ended up seeing an Eastern phoebe, but no action on the nest yet.

House Wren

In Woodcock meadow, we saw another palm warbler and some gold finches.

So, all in all, our friends are arriving and I am looking forward to the Mother's Day bird walk led by Haynes Miller and Alison Leary. I hope you will join us!

Wood Duck Couple!

Chickadee exploring possible nest site

Got to the park at 7:30 a.m. It was 38 degrees, clear and sunny. Ian pulled up right after me so we walked around together.

The lower gardens were inundated with tree swallows as is usually the case this time of year. We heard a beautiful song and as we tried to figure it out, we saw the fox sparrow sitting in the sun on a branch in the crab apple tree to the left of the gardens. They're still around.

The cowbirds were there - three males to a female, high up in the bare tree tops. Ian caught a glimpse of a house finch and a flicker. Our usuals were there as well; song sparrows, cardinals, chickadees and robins.

The upper gardens were filled with robins and tree swallows. There were also song sparrows , titmice, more cowbirds, red-winged blackbirds, juncos, goldfinches and blue jays. A pair of blue herons flew overhead. They're back!

The soccer field was covered with even more robins and several crows. We had a beautiful view of the red-bellied woodpecker on a trunk, his red cap brilliant in the sun. The pond yielded a pair of wood ducks, the male looking very elegant for breeding season. A pair of mallards preened themselves on a log protruding from the shallow depths.

The river was fairly quiet - some blue jays, crows, song sparrows and mourning doves. Sadly there was a dead Canada goose floating in the water near the dock. That was a disturbing sight. Woodcock meadow and the path by the JCC were pretty quiet as well - some cowbirds and a few chickadees.

Things will be heating up pretty soon! Can't wait.

Announcing: Spring!! And Fox Sparrows!

Checking it out...

What a tough winter! It's almost like I've been in a state of suspended animation, just trying to get through it and now, finally starting to come alive again. I haven't been at the park in such a long time... It was such a pleasure to head over there this morning. 32 degrees, clear and sunny.

As I headed into the lower gardens I could hear the toot toot of a blue jay nearby. A mourning dove was cooing. A group of Canada geese flew overhead. Robins foraged in the leaf litter and song sparrows were everywhere - on the ground, in trees, on the fences, flying here and there and of course singing. The tree swallows are back in full force. Every bird box at the park looks like it has been staked out by the tree swallows.

Fox Sparrow

I heard a beautiful song and wasn't sure who was singing it. As I stood in the sun, facing the golf course, I saw a sparrow-like bird in a shrub. As I honed in on it with my binoculars, I realized it was a fox sparrow. Very exciting! I got a little too close and it flew, but later I found it again closer to the path to the upper gardens. This is when I realized there were two of them! Of course there were juncos, cardinals and downy woodpeckers.

As I headed to the upper gardens, I passed chickadees, tufted titmice and more song sparrows. Tree swallows were here as well, guarding their new abodes. I had a nice view of an Eastern Phoebe sunning on a branch. I heard a red-wing blackbird as it flew off. There were several goldfinches in mid-molt and herring gulls flying by.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

I walked to the pond which is mostly still frozen hoping for wood ducks in what looked like a small watery patch, but no luck. The river was quiet save for a lone Canada goose heading upstream.

On my way back, I came across this beautiful Red-bellied woodpecker climbing up and down this tree trunk. It was very vocal and it's head was so brilliant in the sun.

I ran into Haynes as I was leaving and additionally, we saw a cowbird. Hopefully Haynes will add on to this if he saw birds not already reported.