Registrar: Debbie Mullins
Participants: 15
Weather: Sunny, winds calm, high 80s-low 90s F
Bird Species: 46
We thank Amy and Phil for their expert leadership of this trip. Their keen eyes and ears enabled us to see or hear an amazing 46 bird species, as well as several herps, butterflies and dragonflies.
We set out early, at 8:00 am, to focus on morning birdsong. We started at the Ironwood Drive parking area, crossed the stream, and walked north along the power line cut. Prairie Warblers sang all around us, and a very vocal Eastern Towhee begged for attention, but our target bird, the Golden-winged Warbler, eluded us initially. After patiently looking and listening for about two hours, we finally heard it sing–zeee-bee-bee-bee! Unfortunately, we never saw it and had to settle for listing the Golden-winged Warbler as a “heard only” species. Other highlights of the morning included a soaring Red-shouldered Hawk, a flying Pileated Woodpecker, multiple Indigo Buntings, a Scarlet Tanager and four additional warbler species.
Around noon we went to the Sterling Forest Visitor Center on Old Forge Road, where we had lunch on the porch. Barn Swallows, a House Wren, Chipping Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and a Northern Cardinal were spotted there.
The trip officially ended after lunch, but eight people returned to Ironwood Drive to try again to see the Golden-winged Warbler. Although we dipped on the Golden-winged Warbler, we were rewarded by hearing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and seeing a Yellow-throated Vireo and a singing male Cerulean Warbler.
Species Lists
Birds
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
American Redstart
Cerulean Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Herps
Eastern Garter Snake
Rat Snake
Common Snapping Turtle
Eastern Painted Turtle
Gray Tree Frog
Butterflies
Spicebush Swallowtail
Red-spotted Purple
Odonates
Common Whitetail
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
