I arrived at the park before 8am. I knew it would be
a great day as soon as I turned onto the entrance road
and saw an Orchard Oriole feeding two fledglings (a
young Cowbird was in the mix, but I didn't see it
being fed). I took the meadow trail (left) and soon
felt some raindrops. By the time I was halfway along
the trail, there was a steady light rain; but
overhanging trees and forest paths kept me dry (if not
warm). It took three hours to complete the mile and a
quarter, but I stop often and wait for the birds to
appear. I wasn't disappointed. After lunch and a nap
in my van I took the ridge trail (to the right), which
was another mile and a quarter and took another three
hours. I visited the wetland overlook (at the Ranger
Station) when I arrived and when I left. The
afternoon was wonderful...beautiful and sunny. I saw
many fledglings being fed by busy parents. I've put
an asterisk next to each species I saw feeding young.
I saw lots of wildlife, too. I highly recommend this
park. I saw:
Great Blue Heron - 1
Green Heron - 1
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk - being harrassed by smaller birds
Killdeer - 2
Belted Kingfisher - 1 male
Red-bellied Woodpecker
*Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 5
White-eyed Vireo - 1, singing
Red-eyed Vireo - 1, singing
Blue Jay
American Crow - 6
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
*Carolina Chickadee
*Tufted Titmouse
*White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 1\
Wood Thrush - 1, singing
*American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher - 6
Cedar Waxwing - 6
Blue-winged Warbler - 1 bright male, singing
Yellow Warbler - 1
Kentucky Warbler - 1, singing, performing for me
Common Yellowthroat - lots
Yellow-breasted Chat - 2, 1 close-up
Eastern Towhee - 2m, 2f
Chipping Sparrow
*Field Sparrow - lots
*Song Sparrow
*Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1m
Indigo Bunting - 2m, singing
*Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole - 2m, 2juv
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Other Wildlife:
Raccoon - a very young one curled into a ball taking a
nap in the middle of the path. When nudged it woke
up. I couldn't resist petting it before it waddled
into the bushes. Hope its mother found it.
Mink - crossed the path
Deer - 1 adult; later a young fawn which watched with
big-eyed wonder as I talked to it before it finally
bounded away; later 2 more adults; later two more
fawns, older than the first.
Squirrels - both gray and orange
Chipmunk - and a baby chipmunk later
Groundhog - several, plus several little ones
Rabbit - several young ones
Also a large frog, lots of butterflies, a snail
crossing the path, and few (thankfully) insects.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Got a little couch potato?
Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
|
