Spring Birding Class 2!
Posted by Michele Franz on Apr 14, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 comment
Canoe Portage Trail head.
Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, I was not able to attend class 2 with Jerry and the group:( Here, however, is Jerry’s report of sightings for the day as well as some pictures I’ve taken of some of the species sighted taken on different days. If you are interested in joining in on the fun, contact Jerry McWilliams for details!!
Timing was right again this Saturday with decent weather though it could have been a few degrees warmer. Yesterday it snowed and tomorrow it is supposed to rain in the morning, so we lucked out.
Joining me this morning was Julie Leonard, Jean Joyce, Joao and Delores Tavares, Pat Howell, Nancy Baker, Janet Price, Bob and Diane McLaughlin. We had a few things at Vista one including a Hairy Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, and Brown Thrasher. A brief stop at the Great Horned nest tree yielded the female on the nest, though you could only see the ear tufts and a tiny bit of the head. We searched for saw-whets along B-trail and Dead Pond Trail, but found none. However, we had cracking views of a male Purple Finch singing from the top of a pine tree. Beach 11 gave us nice looks at an Osprey as it dropped down and caught a fish. We had a nice variety of ducks in Thompson Bay and we saw the first Caspian Tern of the season. There were a couple of singing titmice and Winter Wrens along Pine Tree Trail. We also had nice looks at a Northern Harrier feeding over the marsh and a distant American Kestrel perched in a tree. Fry’s landing was rather quiet with not much of note.
We recorded the following 54 species of birds this morning:
Canada Goose—several throughout
Mute Swan—one off Vista 2 and five in Misery Bay including one immature
Tundra Swan–two in Thompson Bay
Gadwall—at least a couple of pairs in Thompson Bay
American Wigeon—8 to 10 in Thompson Bay
Mallard—a few around with a nest containing ten eggs along Pine Tree Trail
Redhead—one male caught in a PGC trap
Ring-necked Duck—two on log in Niagara Pond
Lesser Scaup–several off beach 11 and off Vista 2
Bufflehead—several off beach 11 and Vista 2
Red-breasted Merganser—a few thousand in Presque Isle Bay and off Beach 11
Yes, that is what they are doing;)
Ruddy Duck—five near the rangers station and 5 in Thompson Bay
Common Loon—at least a couple in the bay
Pied-billed Grebe—4 or 5 off Vista 2
Pied-billed grebe, one of my favs:)
Double-crested Cormorant—several small flocks flying overhead
Great Blue Heron—one at the head of the bay
Osprey–one over Thompson Bay catching a fish
Northern Harrier—one along Pine Tree Trail
Sharp-shinned Hawk—one or two overhead along Pine Tree Trail
Cooper’s Hawk—one over Pine Tree Trail
Red-tailed Hawk—one seen flying away from us at Niagara Pond
American Kestrel—one perched in a tree along Pine Tree Trail
American Coot—many off Vista 2
Killdeer—a couple in Beach 10 parking lot and one along Gull Point
Bonaparte’s Gull—a few hundred off Beach 11
Bonaparte's gull in flight near the marina.
Ring-billed Gull–a few off Beach 11
Herring Gull–a few over Presque Isle Bay and off Beach 11
Mourning Dove–singles at various places on the park
Great Horned Owl–one on the nest
Great Horned Owl along Duck Pond Trail
Downy Woodpecker–one heard drumming off Pine Tree Trail
Northern Flicker—singles at various sites
American Crow–several throughout
Tree Swallow–several overhead at all sites
Black-capped Chickadee—singles at various sites
Tufted Titmouse—two along Pine Tree trail
Winter Wren—one or two heard singing along Pine Tree Trail
Golden-crowned Kinglet—a couple along Pine Tree Trail
Ruby-crowned Kinglet—one along Pine Tree Trail
Roby-crowned kinglet along Duck Pond Trail
Hermit Thrush–one off B-trail
I saw many Hermit Thrush's along Canoe Portage Trail on Tuesday.
American Robin–several everywhere
Brown Thrasher—one seen at Vista 2
Brown Thrasher along Dead Pond
European Starling– a few overhead
Yellow-rumped Warbler–one or two along Pine Tree Trail
Eastern Towhee– a few heard calling along the trails
Chipping Sparrow—a couple heard singing
Song Sparrow–several throughout
Swamp Sparrow—two or three heard singing in Niagara Pond
Dark-eyed Junco—a couple in the pines
Red-winged Blackbird–many migrants overhead
Common Grackle—a few migrants overhead
Brown-headed Cowbirds—a few with the blackbird flocks
Purple Finch—one singing male
American Goldfinch—one female at Vista 2
~Jerry McWilliams (Instructor)
There is another class this Saturday and every Saturday through the 22nd of May. Also, this Saturday the 17th is the Presque Isle HawkWatch family event. It will be held in the Tom Ridge Environmental Center parking lot from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and if that isn’t enough, the Presque Isle Audubon Society is holding their monthly meeting on Friday the 16th at 7:00 p.m. in the TREC, room 112. The presentation this month is “The Eagle” with falconer and educator, Michael Kuriga. He will be bringing a live bald eagle and discussing his experiences with eagles and other birds of prey. For more information about these and other events at Presque Isle check out the PIAS website!
I miss this time of the year at Presque Isle.
Awesome photos!