Birding on Saturday, May 8, 2010

It rained hard last night as a strong cold front threatened to sweep through the area. Got a few thunderstorms out of it, too. The front did not cause the temperatures to go down, however and it was above 55 degrees when I got up early this morning to go birding on the other side of the county at Colton Point State Park.

Why my buddy Gary and our friendly ranger girl, Audrey, thought we should expand our horizons and head up to Coloton Point instead of sticking with Hills Creek SP is a little strange. CPSP is tent camping only and precious little of that. Leonard Harris SP across on the other side of the Grand Canyon has RV camping--and little of that at this time of year. To get from one to the other is an arduous task. You have to drive north to Route 6 and then back south to get to the sister park--in all it's about 15 miles.

Anyway, we (Gary, Audrey and I) showed up at CPSP at the appointed hour and were joined by Bonnie--a gal who has been a regular at our Saturday walks at HCSP. The rain, which had fallen heavily at times as I drove west, stopped and we took our little walk along the west rim of the Grand Canyon. The wind wasn't bad at the start but soon became a problem as it tossed the upper reaches of the trees about making it even harder to spot the small warblers that were the reason for going to this area in the first place. The small birds also had a tendency to hunker down out of the wind and their lack of song and movement made location and identification that much more difficult.

Still, we managed to get a few warblers and vireos as well as a Scarlet Tanager and several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. My entire list as compiled by eBird:


Location: Colton Point
Observation date: 5/8/10
Notes: Cool (55-57 degrees), overcast after heavy rains. Strengthening winds out of the northwest.
Number of species: 21

Ruffed Grouse X
Turkey Vulture X
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker X
Northern Flicker X
Eastern Phoebe X
Blue-headed Vireo X
Red-eyed Vireo X
Blue Jay X
Common Raven X
Black-capped Chickadee X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Hermit Thrush X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Black-throated Blue Warbler X
Black-throated Green Warbler X
Ovenbird X
Scarlet Tanager X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Rose-breasted Grosbeak X

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

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After we ended our walk at Colton Point, I had some time to kill before heading back to Hills Creek for our annual Tiadaghton Audubon Society picnic. I decided to go over to nearby Darling Run on Pine Creek and do some more birding at a lower elevation. Here's the list I made while walking the rails-to-trails from the parking lot north and then south.



Location: Pine Creek/Darling Run
Observation date: 5/8/10
Notes: Very windy (30+ mph gusts higher) Partly cloudy. Temps between 57 and 61 degrees.
Number of species: 24

Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Common Merganser (North American) X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Bald Eagle X
Broad-winged Hawk X
Belted Kingfisher X
Eastern Phoebe X
Eastern Kingbird X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Yellow Warbler X
Common Yellowthroat X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Baltimore Oriole X

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


Several firsts of the season (Orioles, Kingbird, King Fisher) but nothing brand new.

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At 11:30 AM it was time to hit Hills Creek for some lunch. By then it was windy as all get out and you needed a third hand to hold onto your plate, eat your food and keep your hat on! At least it wasn't raining anymore. (That would come later in the afternoon. When the winds clocked 50 and 60 mph gusts at the Aerie.) Eleven of us gathered at the day use area to share in our morning sightings and a hearty snack of hot dogs, chilli, potato salad, HOT coffee, cherry pie and zucchini bread.

Terry brought the zucchini bread, of course. She had had an EGA meeting at Wellsboro in the morning and was heading to New Jersey to spend Mothers' Day with her Mom after lunch.