Hello all,

About 10 people met at Trailside Museum in Glen Helen for an equinox bird
walk yesterday evening.  We walked the Talus Trail into the Glen, with a
brief foyer over to the Raptor Center area and Baldwin Pond, before
returning by way of the Yellow Springs Dam.

It was a beautiful, temperate evening, the streams were running high, and
there were hardly any birds to find.  Still, we located 14 species,
including:

Canada geese (3 in flight)
duck spp (in flight)
Turkey vulture (approx 15 in flight, perhaps some repeats)
Mourning dove (2)
Yellow-bellied sapsucker (1 -- a new bird for our composite year list)
Downy woodpecker (4)
Pileated woodpecker (1 heard)
American crow (2 in flight)
Carolina chickadee (8)
Tufted titmouse (5)
White-breasted nuthatch (7)
Carolina wren (3)
American robin (2)
Dark-eyed junco (6)
Northern cardinal (7)

For me, the most interesting bird of the day turned up when I returned
home minutes before dark, and glanced towards the small pond in our
backyard.  Something bird-shaped caught my eye, and my first take based on
size and color was an immature black-crowned night heron.  But then I took
a closer look.  There, perched on the leaf litter, was a cooper's hawk.
It waddled (who knew that hawks could waddle) around on top of the pond,
standing on the leaf litter and lily stalks, drinking water every few
moments.  After about five minutes of being observed, it flew off.  The
bird was maybe 20 feet away from us, so the kids all got a great look at
it.

-Nick

------------------------------------
Nick Boutis, Executive Director

Glen Helen Ecology Institute
405 Corry St.
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
[log in to unmask]
937-769-1908

Support the Glen!  Visit www.glenhelen.org to make your tax-deductible
donation.

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