Bill Sefton Reports:
Pretty nice weather for this walk – in spite of a not so great forecast – with only a couple of minutes of rain the whole time. I believe we had 19 birders on the walk with several of them visiting GBNA for the first time. The changeover from winter birds to summer birds was striking with White-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, and Ovenbird showing up on the list for the first time this year, and Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Dark-eyed Junco falling off the list.
I’m naming the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher as the bird of the day. There were so many that everyone got a chance to see and hear them – we even got to see some on their nest! The non-bird of the day went to the Virginia Bluebells. We took the side trip down along the river to check out the wildflowers. There were lots of Spring Beauties, May Apples and Dutchman’s Breeches*, along with the plethora of Virginia Bluebells. Lovely!
May Apple in bloom
Virginia Blue Bells
The complete list of 37 species seen is shown below. The list is color coded with species highlighted in green seen on both the March and April walks, and species highlighted in blue seen on the April walk but not the March walk. At the end of the report – color coded in orange – are the 17 species seen on the March walk but not seen on the April walk.
*Weird stuff that I learned from my wife: In Victorian times, “breeching” was the occasion when boys were first dressed in breeches (trousers). Before breeching, the boys wore gowns or dresses.,
Species: Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Bald Eagle, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Ovenbird, Eastern Towhee, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch