To whosoever shall read this,
Last weekend, Saturday the 17th I presume, I met up with a group of birders
at Flint Hill School at about 7:00A.M. The trip was led by Mr. Fred Atwood,
and we travelled to Burke Lake Park for morning birding. After we all had
exited the bus in which we rode in we began to see several species on this
cold, rainy day. Our first sighting was a Cape May Warbler and soon several
woodpeckers showed up along with Jays and a bluebird. Ruby and
Golden-Crowned Kinglets were heard in the background as well as a
White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Chickadee, and Tufted Titmouse. From there
on we walked a short ways to get a nice panoramic view of the lake. Flying
birds were difficult to spot because of the rain and dark overcast. Mr.
Atwood counted 30 Tree Swallows flying over top a cluster of trees across
the lake and on the lake itself. A single Ring-bileld Gull was spotted.
After moving along to another spot on the shore of the lake the group
spotted 13 Wood Ducks, a Cormorant, and some Mallards. Canada Geese flew
overhead. From then on we walked and was stopped by the sight of a juvenile
Green Heron. A Pied-billed Grebe was spotted before submerging, so we threw
our attention to the Green Heron as it scanned the water for prey. Shortly
after the bird left we walked on to find several birds moving in a patch of
brush as well as trees. The identified are as follows: a Black-throated
Green Warbler, a Nashville Warbler, a Carolina Wren, an Eastern Phoebe, and
a Yellow-rumped Warbler. A Great-blue Heron and a Belted Kingfisher were
spotted later. The rain started to come down more heavily and it was more
difficult to keep the water out of our binoculars. The only birds we saw
after the rain steadied was a Song Sparrow, and 3 sparrows with which we
were unable to identify. We trekked back to the bus very cold and wet and
perhaps for some, tired. One of the members had to leave and it now came to
five birders, As Mr. Atwood drove the bus around in an area around the lake
we collected a small flock of fourteen Killdeer, several bluebirds,
Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Swamp Sparrows. Not much anything was seen the
rest of the morning as we made our way back to the school. The totals on the
day at Burke Lake Park were:
1 Cape May Warbler, 2 Carolina Chickadees, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 2
Tufted Titmice, 10 Blue Jays, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 8 Eastern Bluebirds, 2
Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet(heard
not seen), 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet(heard not seen), 11 Mallards, 7 American
Crow, 30 Tree Swallows, 1 Ring-billed Gull, 19 Canada Geese, 24 Wood Ducks,
1 Double- crested Cormorant, 2 Carolina Wren, 1 Green Heron, 2 Pied-billed
Grebe, 7 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 1 Nashville Warbler, 1
Black-throated Green Warbler, 1 Great-blue Heron, 1 Eastern Towhee(Heard not
seen), 1 Northern Flicker(heard not seen), 1 Song Sparrow, 3 sparrows(not
identified), 14 Killdeer, 1 Northern Cardinal(heard not seen), 1 Belted
Kingfisher, 1 Osprey, 2 Swamp Sparrow, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk(heard not
seen), 1 Northern Mockingbird.
At Woodglen Lake:
1 American Robin(heard not seen), 7 Mallard(6 females), 11 Canada Geese.
Jacob Barkett
