Much needed exercise, and a few birds to be had late this afternoon at Black
Hand Gorge:



Canada geese - 6

Belted kingfisher - 1

Red-bellied woodpecker - 1

Downy woodpecker - 4, 3 females with a loose flock, and one solo male

Pileated woodpecker - 1

Eastern phoebe - pair working over flooded floodplain

Carolina chickadee - 2

Tufted titmouse -1

White-breasted nuthatch - 4, seemingly together in a loose flock

Brown creeper - 3, all in same tree - do they migrate together?

Blue jay - 1 seen, others heard

American crow - X

European starling - XX

Eastern towhee - 1; they are starting to call now, too

Fox sparrow - #66 March 2007 bird for Licking Co.

Song sparrow - 2, plus others singing

Dark-eyed junco - at least 4 in a loose "flock"

Northern cardinal - 2

Red-winged blackbird - XX

Common grackle - XX



I spent a long time studying the small, loose flock that contained four
nuthatches, three downies, the brown creepers, two chickadees and a
titmouse, but still did not locate a golden-crowned kinglet for the month.
Usually they travel with these other winter birds, so I was pretty
disappointed.  That was a lot of work to come up empty.  However, read on:



The fox sparrow was a surprise, and my dog alerted me to its presence when
she went into her hunting stance.  I finally detected the movement in the
tangle of weeds and brush, was surprised to discover it was not a rodent,
and eventually got a good enough look to satisfy myself on the
identification.  It was my first BHG fox sparrow, as well, I believe,
although I didn't keep track of non-lifebirds at BHG until the past couple
of years.  This "lot of work" was rewarded!



I was not able to see the eagle nest well enough from the bike path to
determine for certain, but I believe one of the eagles was on the nest.  I
didn't drive up to Marne Rd., which is the better vantage point, to check.



Other birds of note:  a great blue heron flying over downtown Newark!  A
kestrel hovering in a harvested field across from God's Acres Church and
Campground, on Route 79 at the edge of Newark, just south of the
intersection with Cedar Run Road.  This is getting pretty close to town, and
I was a little surprised.



And, to correct my error in yesterday's post:  the ducks at Dawes were
indeed redheads (not rednecks), although there were probably some
non-feathered rednecks around as well.  After all, I do live in "Nerk".
(It's nice to know that some people actually take an interest in Licking Co.
birds.)



Margaret Bowman




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