| The WCAS field trip to Columbia Reservation on Sunday,
October 8 was terrific. Seventeen members and guests of WCAS attended
and helped to add to the sightings. Weather was ultimately cooperative
with a cool 9 AM beginning warming to a wonderful early afternoon end.
Forty-four species were seen with the highlight being the American
Bittern walking in the open (only for a short time) before doing its
disappearing act into the vegetation. Other noteables were great looks
at comparing Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks in flight, the
beautiful White-crowned Sparrows and the number of American Goldfinch as
they took off from the fields, the number below is merely a guess. We
also had one Brown Creeper that did not read the book as to how a
creeper should behave, it flew from treetop to treetop, none of that
spiraling up the trunk from base to top. Here's the list:
Canada Goose 54
Wood Duck 11
Mallard 30
Pied-billed Grebe 1
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 4
Turkey Vulture 10
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 1
Killdeer 16
Ring-billed Gull 1 flyover
Chimney Swift 4
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 11
American Crow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 1 (heard)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
American Robin 11
Eastern Bluebird heard only
European Starling 35 +
Cedar Waxwing 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 14
Yellow Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 6
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 6
White-crowned Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 7
Red-winged Blackbird 27
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 45 +
Nancy Howell
|
Red-tailed Hawk © Penny O'Connor |
