Furnhill Wetlands 5.28.12 continued.
Birder's code is strict but fair. We had seen a new species that my cousin, Rush, had not. We had to get him that bird. My count was 63 species for the long weekend. Was going to another location, particularly one I had already recently visited, going to add 7 more? It didn't really matter and I was down for the trip either way.
- Tree Swallows
- Brewer's Blackbirds
- Purple Finches
- Red-Winged Blackbirds
- American Coot
- Great Blue Herons
- Mallards
- American goldfinches
- Brown-Headed Cowbirds
- Gadwalls
- American Robin
- Song Sparrows - I kid you not, one was singing, "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" in a raspy, Chestnut-Backed Chickadee voice. We were convinced it was a chickadee, until it popped out of the tree, continuing to sing.
- Common Yellowthroats
- Canada Geese
- Bald Eagle
- Turkey Vultures
- Barn Swallows
- Cedar Waxwings - By now just about everything we had seen so far, we had just seen at Jackson Bottom. We were getting worried. Finally, we got to the mucky, swampy grass area where we saw the Virginia Rail. The entire area had been weed-wacked! We tried playing the mating call to see if it was still hiding somewhere. Nothing. I suggested we continue, because it could still be somewhere else. An older lady was coming down the path, my cousin made an off hand comment that she looked like she knew her Virginia Rails. We asked what she has seen and she responded with V.R.s! She told us where to find it up ahead.
- Virginia Rail - Now that we had seen it, we started to see a lot of different things we hadn't seen in a long time.
- Marsh Wren
- Western Grebe
- Killdeer
- Northern Shovelers
- Greater White-Fronted Geese
- Northern Pintails
- European Starlings
- Green Heron - Komito was spotting crazy birds all over the place that Rush and I didn't see right away. One being California Quails, that I completely missed :(
- Yellow Warblers
- Red-Tailed Hawk
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Wilson's Warbler - male
- Hutton's Vireo*
- Savannah Sparrow
- Lazuli Bunting - male
- Anna's Hummingbird - female
- Lesser Goldfinches
- Cinnamon Teal - male
- Mourning Dove
The sun was setting and we managed to spend the entire day birding. That's my kind of holiday weekend! While I was in the restroom, the boys saw a Belted Kingfisher, but that's ok, because my Memorial Weekend Grand Total: 70 species! I just barely made my goal!
*Lifer!
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| Female Mallard being chased by domestic duck (not pictured). |
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| Geese family with "teens" |
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| Virginia Rail |
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| handsome domestic duck |
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| Bullfrog (for sure this time!) |
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| Tree Swallow - ham for the camera |
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| Cedar Waxwing |
