Saturday, May 23, 2009

Bird Walk May 23


     Another great morning for a bird walk! Too bad you weren't with us! It was warm, plus 4, clear and calm . Just a great morning to be outdoors .


Today we walked through an area in the River Bend Recreation area . This area is part river escarpment and part upland grass. Of course , there's the river bank itself . The major tree is old spruce with a few poplar and the odd birch . The grass is old pasture so at this time of year it is heavy old last year's grass. The area has cross country ski trails so at this time of year they are grass covered and very easy and pleasant to walk on.


      At the river we saw mallards and lesser yellow legs. There were yellow rumped warblers, robins and a Lincoln's sparrow . Of course, we can't forget the ever present crows and magpies.After that we saw pine siskins, golden crowned kinglets, white throated sparrows, chipping sparrows, white and red breasted nuthatches ,clay colored sparrows, chickadees, yellow rumped warblers , house wren, and phoebes.


     We had eight birders this morning . It's always interesting to see a rookie birder being excited to see a bird they had never seen before . Now look at the experienced birder and they are just as excited . Most birders are excited about any sighting no matter how common.