NASWC Bird Walk

There were 4 of us for the slightly early October NASWC bird walk today. We spent about 3 hours birding the T&C playing fields and the woods and the creek downstream of the fields. It was a beautiful cool and overcast morning including one brief and pleasant rain. We found 38 species of birds with these highlights:

• We got good looks at 2 female Baltimore Orioles in the dead tree between the parking lot and the tributary creek.
• There was a Red-shouldered Hawk perched in another dead tree across the creek.
• We saw a tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatcher by the edge of the soccer fields. This little bird is a very common fall migrant in the neighborhood but they're hard to see!
• Nearby we found 2 American Goldfinches -- the first I've seen this season.
• We got a good look at a Spotted Sandpiper on the creek. We saw both is distinctive wing flapping and tail bobbing.
• A female Indigo Bunting popped up on a tall reed in the creek letting us get a distant but pretty good look.
• We watched a Cooper's Hawk circling over the creek being escorted by a flock of 10-15 starlings. It was interesting to see the starlings flock tighter together for defense since they were so close to a predator.

This bird walk was the 1 year anniversary of my NASWC bird walks! Many thanks to everyone who has shown an interest or come on a walk or two. For me it has been great fun meeting a few neighbors and sharing birding with them.