The Jackpot

It was a cloudy and windy start to the morning on the grasslands yesterday. We had no goals except to explore. And we had a time limit as we both needed to get back by early afternoon.

Then we saw the robins behind us! Next we picked out the Cedar Waxwings.

In fact, we were seeing lots of little birds that flittered around. The birds were darting all round us! At this point, we plopped down of course.

Furthermore, it certainly was hard to know which way to turn. A stream of robins flew in from the north. The sparrows were in the tall switchgrass and in the brushy area. So the tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet must have been angry or excited because it displayed its red crown! Then hearing a rush of wings, I turned to face “it”. Indeed, a Field Sparrow must not have noticed me until the last moment. Ooops, I bet it said as it veered quickly to the right.

Here is our list:

28 Black Vulture
12 Turkey Vulture
1 Cooper’s Hawk
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
2 Northern Flicker
1 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
8 Blue Jay
6 American Crow
2 Carolina Chickadee
1 Tufted x Black-crested Titmouse (hybrid)
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 House Wren
100 American Robin
40 Cedar Waxwing
15 Chipping Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
20 Dark-eyed Junco
3 Harris’s Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
1 Spotted Towhee
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
8 Northern Cardinal

Number of Taxa: 27

After we left the pond, we crossed paths with an additionally six species which included Kestrel, bluebirds, Red-bellied woodpecker, Savannah sparrow, goldfinch, Cooper’s Hawk, and meadowlarks. It was the most birdy day we had in some time! A jackpot total of 33 species!

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As the Frass Flies

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know