Bird Walk results

When we planned this walk last weekend, the forecast was for a sunny morning and temperatures reaching 50 degrees before clouds and rain moved in. HA! It was a raw, overcast 34 degrees when we started our walk at 8:30 AM. Six hardy souls turned out for our first walk of the season. And our results weren't all that bad!

A flock of Tundra Swans flew over and several skeins of Canada Geese flew past as well.

Location: Rails-to-Trails Rt 287 W (parking at the end of Butler Road)
Observation date: 3/10/09
Notes: A raw overcast day with the temperature just above freezing (34-37 degrees). Still, there were many birds working to establish territories. Cardinals in particular were very vocal.
Number of species: 25

Canada Goose X
Tundra Swan X
Wood Duck X
Mallard X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Eastern Bluebird X
American Robin X
Cedar Waxwing X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Rusty Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Pine Siskin X
American Goldfinch X

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

Our fearless leader, Gary, had European Starlings on his list but not the Rock Pigeons. There are farm fields on either side of the trail at the start. The Pigeons were flying about when Terry and I arrived. I missed seeing the Starlings but have no doubt they were among the Red-winged Blackbirds and the Rusty Blackbirds which were flocking together around some of the stubble fields which had large puddles in them.

We had 2 inches of rain between Sunday and Monday. The forecast is for an additional 1-1.75 inches tonight and tomorrow. Needless to say, this will produce stream and river flooding. Most are already bank full and the ground is still frozen beneath the surface and will not absorb much water right now.