Registrar: Mary Beth Kooper
Participants: 8
Weather: 64 – 73°F, light NW wind
Bird Species: 43
We were very fortunate to have Andrew Farnsworth lead this walk for our organization. Andrew directs the BirdCast Project, a collaboration between ornithologists and computer scientists to forecast bird migration. Our field trip got off to an exciting start when participant Junko Suzuki found a first for the county—a Buff-breasted Sandpiper—before the trip even began! We were treated to great views of this special visitor to the county, and for several in our group, it was a life bird. While we were watching it, a Peregrine Falcon flew over, and the sandpiper froze still on the grass. Andrew explained that this was typical behavior for this species: freezing in place when it senses danger, rather than flying off.
After some time spent examining and learning about the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, we started exploring the northeastern end of the island. We soon found some Savannah Sparrows, and Andrew helped us focus on certain features (short tail and crisp breast streaking) in order to quickly differentiate this sparrow from the more commonly seen Song Sparrow (longer tail, coarser breast streaking).
After covering the northeastern part of the island we headed west, walking down to Little Hell Gate Marsh and then up to the north side of the Freshwater Wetlands. Finally, we walked back to the fields in the northeast to end the trip, after seeing a nice variety of species and learning a great deal from our expert leader.
Species List
Birds
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
House Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
