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April 2016

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From:
Leslie Sours <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Leslie Sours <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:45:49 -0400
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Greenlawn has always been on my “must explore” radar for April. Yesterday’s intermittent rains provided an ideal time to visit. Knowing that the Great-horned Owls had fledged, I hoped to avoid the recent owl madness. One branchling was perched above the road with a wet and watchful parent one tree away; the other was hopefully safe nearby. Waving to the paparazzi, I headed straight to the ravine. What might have been a 20-minute visit stretched into two hours, with the bridge being a nice place to wait out the downpours. Whenever the rain stopped, the ravine came alive with foraging, singing, and squabbling. I dragged myself away once the rain returned in earnest. I had originally planned to go with someone later in the day and decided to stick to the plan. Who knew that Anna and Ben Warner would have arrived soon after I left and that Anna would find an Eastern Whip-poor-Will! I returned to find the bird staked out in a scope! We stayed until the gates closed at 5:00; because it was obvious that even more birds had dropped in since the early afternoon, mixing with the lingering Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows. Highlights will give highest numbers seen at one time. Pretty impressive for a small but reliable migrant trap.

1 Winter Wren - worked both sides of the ravine coming to within feet of me
8 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - chasing and calling, at one point 5 in one tree
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
9 Pine Siskin- one in ravine, most at feeders
6 Hermit Thrush - flying in two’s and three’s seemingly everywhere we looked
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Fox Sparrow - singing
1 Swamp Sparrow
2 Brown Thrasher - singing
6 Northern Flicker -  5 in one flock
19 Brown-headed Cowbird - saw at pit on way out 
1 American Woodcock - flushed from shrubbery on far side of bridge
1 Eastern Whip-poor-Will
9 Great Egret - flyover around noon, heading north

The best part of the day was watching the Whip-poor-Will perched just feet from the ground in an upright posture, showing great feather detail. Ben reminded us about the toes, so we studied zygodactyly. Furthermore, I had never seen what Ben called “Whipper-Wobble”…or was it “Whipper-Wibble?” Anyway, the bird did occasionally wibble-wobble and look like a dead leaf in the breeze. It also shook rain off of itself.  NOTE: While there earlier, at least 6 off-leash dogs and one soggy rat passed right by the log that the bird was on, as did I. I would likely have missed it just walking the ravine, but I believe that it arrived at that spot once I had gone. Surely I would not have missed 5 more Hermit Thrushes than I had seen just hours earlier! The heaviest rain had occurred while I was gone.

Needless to say, this is a place to keep checking, as is the pit as migration hits full-force. We should be checking all of our favorite migrant traps, because things are happening out there! Had I been home……American White Pelicans were flying literally over my yard! Oh well! 

Happy Birding,
Leslie

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