Going on the theory that a birdy yard means birdy in the field, I visited
Bath Nature Preserve this morning.  The theory panned out nicely, and it
turned into a 5 hour hike with good birds just coming out of the woodwork,
including a bumper crop of at least 9 meadowlarks and 5 first-of-year
sightings.  The blue skies and sunshine made for some spectacular viewing,
too.

Highlights:

Bright yellow male goldfinch in his Easter finest, sitting in a
red-flowering maple against a deep blue sky.
Male bluebird showing brilliant indigo against a backdrop of aqua and cyan
reflecting off the surface of a pond.
Male pine siskin with lots of yellow with dark streaking, highlighted in the
sun.
A male eastern towhee with bright rufous sides scolding a vivid gold eastern
meadowlark on the branch below.
Longest, clearest views ever of a male pileated woodpecker with head flaming
red in sun, drumming, calling and chipping bark from a tree trunk.
My first real good looks at fox sparrows out in the open, in bright
sunshine, several of them singing!

But the very best moment:

Watching a small flock of chatty golden crowned kinglets in the same tree as
a drumming red bellied woodpecker when two hermit thrushes nearby break out
in song!

LIST:
First of year:
   brown thrasher 1
   fox sparrow 5
   barn swallow 2
   field sparrow 5
   hermit thrush 5

Mallard - 1 pair
flyover of odd shaped black duck sized waterfowl -- coot??
canada goose frozen motionless on her nest, many more near pond
kettle of 11 turkey vultures in a swirling vortex
coopers or sharp shinned hawk doing a slalom race between the upright poles
of tall pines
red tailed hawk
mourning dove
red bellied woodpecker - many
downy woodpecker - many
flicker - 4 pairs
pileated woodpecker 3
eastern phoebe 5
blue jay 8
amer. crow 5
comm. grackle - 6
tree swallow - 7 pairs staking out bluebird boxes
b.c. chickadee - many
tufted titmouse - many
red breasted nuthatch 1
white breasted nuthatch 9
golden crowned kinglets 4
eastern bluebird - at least 10 pairs on territory
amer. robin - many
e. starling - too many
cardinal - many
e. towhee - 8
song sparrow - many
b.h. cowbird  11
eastern meadowlark - 9-13 moving around a lot, 6 visible together at one
time
red winged blackbird - many
pine siskin 5
amer. goldfinch - many
house sparrow - 2 battling with 2 starlings and 2 bluebirds for a tree
cavity
killdeer 2
white throated sparrow - 2 heard

Noticeably absent:
tree sparrow
carolina wren
d.e. junco

Karen Gray
Copley - Summit Co.

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