Twelve people remembered to set their clocks ahead and attended the weekly bird
walk sponsored by the Friends of Dyke Marsh. We listed 52 species. Waterfowl
off the picnic area were scarce, but we did see a horned grebe, the
now-resident tundra swan, a greater scaup and a ruddy duck (common merganser
and lesser scaup seen afterwards). Three bald eagles were sitting off Jones
Point. A nice find in the picnic area was a brown creeper that appeared on a
tree very close to the group, affording great views. In the marina we watched
an osprey pair on the nesting platform, with a third trying to break up the
party. Two pied billed grebes were tucked away along the shore and a coot was
walking on the shore. A singing winter wren greeted us at the start of the
trail. The rest of the trail was pretty quiet. We ran into several groups of
song sparrows, a few white-throats, and a single swamp sparrow. We heard rusty
blackbirds in the woods close to the parkway. There were 4 tree swallows over
the marsh, and 2 wood duck flushed out of the marsh. A single bluebird flew
overhead. After walking back to the parking several of the group were able to
find 2 fox sparrows in the brushy area at the edge of the picnic area.
Here is the list:
Canada goose – 12
tundra swan – 1
wood duck – 2
mallard – 10
greater scaup – 1
lesser scaup – 1
common merganser – 2
ruddy duck – 1
pied-billed grebe – 3
horned grebe – 1
double-crested cormorant – 3
great blue heron – 3
black vulture – 1
turkey vulture – 3
osprey – 5
bald eagle – 5
red-tailed hawk – 1
American coot – 1
ring-billed gull – 50
herring gull – 2
great black-backed gull – 2
mourning dove – 1
belted kingfisher – 1
red-bellied woodpecker – 10
downy woodpecker – 10
northern flicker – 4
blue jay – 4
American crow – 2
fish crow – 10
tree swallow – 4
carolina chickadee – 14
tufted titmouse –8
white-breasted nuthatch – 3
brown creeper – 1
carolina wren – 12
winter wren – 2
eastern bluebird – 1
American robin – 8
European starling – 12
eastern towhee – 1
fox sparrow – 2
song sparrow – 22
swamp sparrow – 2
white-throated sparrow – 8
dark-eyed junco – 12
northern cardinal – 10
red-winged blackbird – 25
rusty blackbird – 2
common grackle – 3
house finch – 2
American goldfinch – 2
house sparrow – 4
Marc Ribaudo
