Following is the count from Sunday's weekly bird walk at Great Falls
National Park, which identified 34 species and included 9 participants. Worthy
of mention were sightings of Buffleheads and Common Mergansers upstream from
the Park visitors' center. The highlight of the walk, however, was an
exceedingly large migratory flock of Common Grackles -- estimated count of
10,000 birds -- that took literally minutes to pass by (see comment below).
Awe-inspiring.
The walk meets at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, rain or shine, in front of the
snack bar/concession stand of the Great Falls Park visitors' center; it does
not take place, though, during electrical storms, strong winds, heavy snows, or
when the trails are icy. All birders are welcome!
Canada Goose 20
Mallard 30
American Black Duck 20
Bufflehead 30
Common Merganser 8
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 4
Turkey Vulture 2
Bald Eagle 2Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 6
Pileated Woodpecker 5
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 1
Fish Crow 40
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 8
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 52
American Robin 10
Cedar Waxwing 24
Dark-eyed Junco 1
White-throated Sparrow 15
Song Sparrow 12
Northern Cardinal 6
Common Grackle 10000 Estimated count of an exceedingly large migratory
flock of grackles, flying in close proximity to one another and often in
synchrony. The main body took literally minutes to pass by our group, yet more
grackles continued to follow. Although other species might have been among the
flock, participants observed only grackles, aided by a spotting scope as well
as multiple binoculars.
American Goldfinch 18
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40469772
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
