Weekly Birding Report

Gary and I went for a walk along the Mansfield bike trail this morning. We started at the Borough work station behind Grecco's Grocery and walked just one mile up to the new Route 15 overpass and back. The walk is on a paved surface and is very flat. The trail itself runs nearly four miles to the road to the boat launch and a picnic area on Tioga Lake.The area is a mix of open grass fields, mature hardwoods (predominantly oaks and hickory) and softwoods (sycamore and some pine and cedar) and overgrown brush. There is a catch basin for storm water runoff and the Tioga River. (The river, however is quite "dead" along this stretch due to acid runoff from the Blossburg mines.) Things were quite quiet on the birding front with only 23 species sighted. This was somewhat surprising in light of all the forage available in the form of wild grapes, Virginia Creeper, Goldenrod, elderberries, raspberries and wild rose. A few species, notably the Goldfinches, did take advantage of Mother Natures largesses.

In any even, here is the morning report:
Location: Mansfield Bike Path
Observation date: 9/6/07
Notes: Clear morning with light winds out of the south. Temps in 65-75 degree range.
Number of species: 23

Great Blue Heron 1
Green Heron 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Rock Pigeon 11
Mourning Dove 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Blue Jay 17
American Crow 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
American Robin 5
Gray Catbird 6
Common Yellowthroat 1
Northern Cardinal 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Purple Finch 3
House Finch 5
American Goldfinch 35
House Sparrow 10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)