Bird watching at Starr's Cave

A group of 12 folks gathered in the parking lot at Starr's Cave Nature Center this morning to take a hike down the road with leadership of Chuck Fuller to spot resident & migrant birds in the area. Jerry wrote down 37 species - many which you can see daily in the area, others are passing through on their annual migration. Some were first identified by their
"songs", others by their habits of flicking their tails or "flitting" from branch to branch. We consulted the Sibley's bird guide regularly and challenged ourselves to trace a tree trunk or branch with binoculars so we could spot the tiny, colorful, treetop residents. Those who stayed beyond the gray rainy start were rewarded by a view of the great horned owl fledglings, yellow throated warbler, indigo bunting, water thrush, parula warbler and more, viewed from the bridge across Flint Creek in sunshine, as we concluded this Leopold Heritage Event. We also identified spring beauties, prairie trillium, rue anemone, dutchman's breeches spring blooms along the path - and a few of the dreaded invasive garlic mustard- which we pulled & deposited in the trash! Hope to see you tomorrow at Crapo park as there will be beautiful unique trillium, celandine, and other wildflowers to see with the guidance of Ellen Fuller at 2 p.m. The outdoors is a place to rejuvenate & appreciate - see you there! Lois Rigdon
April 25, 2009 Bird Walk at Starr’s Cave
1. Canada Goose
2. Wood Duck
3. Mallard
4. Double Crested Cormorant
5. Great Blue Heron
6. Broad-winged Hawk
7. Turkey Vulture
8. Mourning Dove
9. Great Horned Owl
10. Red-bellied Woodpecker
11. Downy
12. Northern Flicker
13. Eastern Hpoebe
14. Blue Jay
15. Northern Rough Winged Swallow
16. Black Capped Chickadee
17. Tufted Titmouse
18. White Breasted Nuthatch
19. Carolina Wren
20. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
21. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
22. Eastern Bluebird
23. American Robin
24. Brown thrasher
25. European Starling
26. Orange-crowned Warbler
27. Northern Parula Warbler
28. Yellow-rump Warbler
29. Yellow-throat Warbler
30. Common Yellow Throat
31. White-throat Sparrow
32. Northern Cardinal
33. Indigo Bunting
34. Red-winged Blackbird
35. Brown headed Cowbird
36. Common Crackle
37. House Finch
38. American Goldfinch
39. House Sparrow