I headed to Deer Creek again today to do some more atlas work. I've spent a lot of time there in late fall and early spring, but not much in the breeding season, so it's a new adventure to poke around there now. The State Park and wildlife area are in parts of 8 different blocks. I'm officially signed up for several of them, but hopefully I can check out some of the interesting spots in the others. I haven't had a chance yet to get to the wetlands off of Egypt Pike and Dick Rds., which are in the corners of two blocks I'm not doing, but I've got at least a basic gist of what's in the other blocks. I have a whole lot more to do there, but here is some of what I've seen so far  from my two visits :

Gamebirds : R-n Pheasants are conspicuous in the wildlife area and multiple individuals have been seen in 4 blocks so far. I don't know how self-sustaining their population there is and how many birds are releases. Wild Turkeys are there too, but much less conspicuous. The first OBBA had N Bobwhites (Upland Sandpipers and Loggerhead Shrikes too!) confirmed at Deer Creek, but there's no sign of them now from what I've seen so far.

Ospreys are on the nest platform in the northern part of the reservoir.

Yellow-billed Cuckoos are turning up just about everywhere I've spent any time - both in the thickets and along the creek.  I haven't detected any nests yet, but I should be able to at least have some "T7"'s next week with many of them.

Woodpeckers : I've already seen both Downy and Hairy feeding young. Red-bellieds and Flickers are numerous and I should be able to confirm them soon too. One block has at least 3 pairs of Red-headeds.

Flycatchers : I haven't seen any of the late migrants there.  An unfledged E Phoebe was seen at a nest, but otherwise they are hard to detect now. Great Cresteds and E Wood-Pewees are very vocal and can be found anywhere you stop along the creek. Acadians are present too in smaller numbers. Willow Flycatchers are absolutely abundant in the fields. E Kingbirds are also here and there.

Vireos - Red-eyed, Warbling, and White-eyeds are present in suitable habitat. I've only found one Yellow-throated so far. I'm really hoping for Bell's, since there is a lot of great looking habitat for them. The state park grounds don't really look much different from their long-time haunts at nearby Buck Creek.

Swallows : Purple Martins and Tree Swallows are in nests. Barn and N Rough-winged should be easy to confirm eventually. I haven't seen any Banks or Cliffs, but I haven't really looked for them yet.

Chickadees, wrens, gnatcatchers :  Except for the abundant and vocal House Wrens, these birds are very inconspicuous now.  Carolina Chickadees and W-b Nuthatches have been seen feeding fledglings.

Thrushes, mimids : Wood Thrushes are singing in most wooded thickets. G Catbirds and Br Thrashers are numerous, but N Mockingbirds are few. There are very few E Bluebirds around surprisingly.

Cedar Waxwings : Flocks are everywhere along the creek

Warblers : Yellows and C Yellowthroats are abundant in suitable habitat. Yellow-throateds have been found in all three blocks that have wooded parts of the creek. A canoe trip would likely turn up quite a few more and possibly a N Parula or two, which I haven't found yet. There is no Charlie Bombaci at Deer Creek to put up nest boxes for Prothonotaries, but I've found 3 singing males so far near various fishing access points along the Deer Creek. Y-b Chats are present in suitable habitat in all the blocks I checked out. The biggest surprise was a slightly out-of-range singing KENTUCKY in suitable habitat. Hopefully I can confirm the bird next week.

Tanagers : Scarlet Tanagers are present in modest numbers in wooded areas. I haven't found any Summers yet, but there should be some around too.

Sparrows : Song and Field are abundant as expected. Towhees are also where you'd expect. Grasshopper, Savannah, and Vesper Sparrows can all be seen in several areas but are more localized.

Buntings, etc. Indigo Buntings are abundant and it's probably impossible to be anywhere in the Deer Creek area without hearing one. There is lots of great Blue Grosbeak habitat, but I haven't found any yet. Dickcissels are present in two of the blocks in the northern part of the wildlife area, but I haven't seen any yet in the two blocks where I found them last July.

Blackbirds - Baltimore Orioles are everywhere along the creek, but I've found surprisingly few Orchards so far. Bobolinks are present in small numbers in some good grassland habitat.


Bob Royse

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