Before I get to how my day of birding was, I just realized while looking through my daily lists that I have failed to check off Ruddy Duck every single day of the week! This means that I can add one more species to each of my day lists. Looks like I've got some editing to do. This happened last year as well. I went through my list not once, twice, but thrice before realizing I was missing a species on my May list. This error brought me to 175 species instead of 174 and I was a happy man. As of today, I am at 161 and have little doubt that I will meet last year's tally.
Now on to today. The park was much busier with birds today, probably due to the south winds bringing in more species. One of the highlights was a reverse migration at the tip that is always a welcome challenge. I love picking out species in the sky as it proves to be a test of skills but there's also a good chance that a rarity will pop up amongst the common birds flying off the tip. Reverse migrants from today included blackbirds, orioles, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, American Goldfinch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, various warblers, Eastern Bluebird, an Eastern Meadowlark, and a lot of Blue Jays.
Woodland and Tilden trail continue to be the most-birded areas of the park and today was not a let-down. I finally heard the Louisiana Waterthrush on Tilden Trail (a species I was starting to worry I would miss). Then on Woodland Trail, I had great looks at one of my favourite warblers, the Cerulean Warbler (the bird that inspired the name of my blog). A female Summer Tanager at the tip went unseen by me. I looked hard for a Chat reported on the Redbud trail but to no avail. I also missed a Mississippi Kite flying over the visitor center parking lot (an annual occurrence). However, an afternoon trip to Kopegaron Woods was surprisingly helpful as I got Tennessee Warbler and White-breasted Nuthatch there. The small conservation area was actually quite busy with warblers. I went there on a mission to see Hairy Woodpecker but that failed so I might have to go to Wheatley Park one afternoon to get this species.
I also went to the Shorebird Cell but it was pretty slow this afternoon. There was a White-tailed Deer that bound across the cell and through the water that scared all the birds up, which was interesting. That was then followed by 2 dogs chasing geese and their goslings through the water in the cell!! I'm looking forward to next week when more species of shorebirds arrive.
I'm feeling slightly brainless right now and I think I'm going to take a nap as I plan to do a much longer day tomorrow. I'm likely forgetting to write down other interesting experiences from today but I think I'll just stop here.
Day List:
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Dunlin
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Total Species: 92
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