NASWC Bird Walk

This morning 10 of us enjoyed a cool and clear morning finding 42 species of birds for the February NASWC Bird Walk. In the past I've had only 1 person, or even no one show up for these walks. But now several times we've broken into the double digits. That's great! Here are some highlights from this morning:

• We found 4 species of ducks. In the new drainage pond in front of the Parmer Village model homes there were 20 Ring-necked Ducks, 13 American Wigeon, and 5 Gadwall. Later on we got distant looks at about 6 Northern Shovelers on the creek.
• An early sign of spring was that many birds were singing. Several times we heard Carolina Wrens and Northern Cardinals singing at the same time, offering a great opportunity to learn how to distinguish between these 2 similar-sounding species. This Red-winged Blackbird flew in, perched right above us, and sang for about 5 minutes.



• We saw more American Robins this morning than I've seen all winter. At one point a flock of about 60 flew right over us.
• This Northern Flicker, an uncommon winter resident woodpecker in the neighborhood, perched across the creek right out in the open. It was a little too far away for my camera, so the picture I got is pretty low resolution.
  



• An Osprey flew over us several times, low above the creek. We did not see it dive for a fish this time, but it was still beautiful to see.
  
• We watched a Belted Kingfisher dive and take minnows out of the creek 4 or 5 times in a row. Each time it flew back to its perch and we could see something small and silvery wriggling in its beak for a few seconds before being swallowed.
• Where Lake Creek Trail meets the eastern edge of the T&C playing fields we saw several small bird species, including Yellow Rumped Warbler (actually showing off their yellow rumps in the sun), Orange-crowned Warbler, Field Sparrow, and American Goldfinch.