This was a really nice day for birding! You could feel the spring coming with first of year sightings of a Brown Thrasher and some early wildflowers popping up near the river. We had good looks at Bald Eagle, Cooper’s Hawk, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and the cooperative Brown Thrasher.
In a surprise upset, the Bird of the Day honors went to… the Virginia Bluebells! Crazy, right? Normally we take the path along the river during our April Walk to see the wildflowers with the Virginia Bluebells being the star attraction. But from the Good Spot, we could already see large patches of Bluebells on the Anne Arundel side of the river. That triggered us to take an abbreviated side trip to the river path near the big pond. May Apples, Tooth Wort, Trout Lily, Spring Beauties, and Virginia Bluebells - all in early stages - were seen. If you are into wildflowers, suggest you don’t wait for the April GBNA walk to visit that path or you will miss the peak bloom.
The complete list of 44 species seen is shown below – color coded with birds seen on both the February walk and March walk in green, and birds seen on the March walk but not the February walk in blue.
At the bottom – color coded in orange – are the 2 species seen on the February walk but not the March walk.
Note: Our political representatives have exceeded expectations and avoided a government shutdown, so we will be meeting at the National Wildlife Visitor Center for the April 6th Bird Walk instead of the Fran Uhler Natural Area! Expect to return to Fran Uhler Natural Area once the Horsepen Path reopens. The latest date on the path reopening is “Spring of 2024”.
Species
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Hooded Merganser
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
Two Species seen in Feb and not on this March walk
Gull (sp)
Winter Wren