Leslie spit - April 6-12

[mr.sharp-photo]

Going to start a weekly thread for the Spit so we don't have a million threads.

spent 45 minutes in the wet woods. nothing going on there today. ravens weren't around. did see an eastern phoebe and a few golden-crowned kinglets. otherwise, RWBB and some robins and some goldfinches and that's it.

ponds are still freezing overnight, which leads me to believe that we won't see anything overly exciting for at least a week, since the gnats won't have a chance to wake up and be active.

[rickeckley]

Tuesday April 8 – 10:15-noon

Finally crossed paths with Leon down at the Spit.  We skulked through a nearly birdless post rain, cloud-drenched Wet Woods for an hour-and-a-half and were rewarded with Chickadee, Goldfinch, Mockingbird, Downey, Flicker, and a Chipping Sparrow (a positive ID this time with Senator Leon acting as my sober second thought).  The sun came out and I left Leon at his “other” lunch spot and headed to the Unwin Bridge where I was greeted with a 15-minute blast of birdiness in the nearby scrub: Kinglet, Towhee, Cowbird, Fox Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, and a Common Loon.  Heading back down Unwin, the trip was capped off with a Killdeer next to my car.

[mr.sharp-photo]

Tuesday April 8 – 10:15-noon

Finally crossed paths with Leon down at the Spit.  We skulked through a nearly birdless post rain, cloud-drenched Wet Woods for an hour-and-a-half and were rewarded with Chickadee, Goldfinch, Mockingbird, Downey, Flicker, and a Chipping Sparrow (a positive ID this time with Senator Leon acting as my sober second thought).  The sun came out and I left Leon at his “other” lunch spot and headed to the Unwin Bridge where I was greeted with a 15-minute blast of birdiness in the nearby scrub: Kinglet, Towhee, Cowbird, Fox Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, and a Common Loon.  Heading back down Unwin, the trip was capped off with a Killdeer next to my car.

likely birding there tomorrow.  it's the time of the year where i shift my entry point to Unwin. seems to always be fun stuff around the curves

[mr.sharp-photo]

Wed April 8.

Still relatively quiet, but there were some really active and cooperative GCKinglets on Unwin at the marina road.
Leon said he saw 2 brown thrashers.
We saw our first YBSapsucker (male) as well.
The raven did a fly-through early in the morning and was perched on the top of the power plant wall.
Kris may have seen a thrush or 2.
Considering there are SW winds tonight (and big SW winds projected on Sunday), we may be getting a few visitors coming this weekend. Temps are dropping for Monday (no idea what that will do to movement), but i'd guess that things are starting to get interesting. perhaps tomorrow will bring lots of activity.

[Trillian Flummox]

A few new arrivals today (new to me at least), but I missed the Thrashers and did not get a good enough look at the possible thrush to confirm it.  -kris  

-GC Kinglets (lots)
-Tree Swallows
-Barn Swallows
-Kingfisher
-Brown Creeper (4)
-YB Sapsucker (1 male in west corner near Unwin)
-Northern Flicker (north/west corner)
-Eastern Pheobe (1 in the central woods, 1 in the north/west corner)
-Fox Sparrow (2 deep in the central woods)
-Eastern Towhee (1 male near the entrance to the central woods)

[mr.sharp-photo]

not much AM activity except for a kingfisher in the part of the wet woods 100 ft in from the Spit's main road. strange spot for it to be hanging out.

[rickeckley]

Thursday April 10, 9:30 to 12:30.

Catching up with springtime friends I hadn’t seen since last June made for a pleasant romp through the Wet Woods as we mused over the details of ID-ing sparrows.  Migration is still taking its sweet time, despite a very warm and sunny day.  Today’s sightings included:

Sapsucker
Flicker
Downy
Cowbird
Mockingbird
Raven
Junco
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Phoebe
Kinglet
Creeper
Goldfinch
House finch
Killdeer
Ring-Necked Duck
Canvasback
Common Merganser
R.B. Merganser
R.N. Grebe

[rickeckley]

Saturday April 12 - 11-2

Hit the Wet Woods today from 11-2 with my kids, Antonia and Felix, who were incredibly patient and dedicated to the birding task at hand .  They have great young eyes and are closer to the ground, so they can really spot anything skulking down low.  Highlights included:

Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Yellow-Rump
White-Throated Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Phoebe
Kinglet
Sapsucker
Hairy (or possibly just a big-ass Downy)
Flicker
House Finch
Raven
Killdeer
Female Red-Winged Black-Bird
Canvasback
Common Merganser
R.B. Merganser
R.N. Grebe

[rickeckley]

April 13 – 12-3 – Wet Woods

Pine Warbler (first reported by Leon on the lake side or Unwin beyond the bridge)
Y.R. Warbler
R.C. Kinglet
G. C. Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Phoebe
Flicker
Sapsucker
Creeper
White-Throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Mockingbird
House Finch
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Killdeer
Loon
Common Merganser
R.B Merganser
R.N. Grebe

Others reported a Field Sparrow just beyond the first really big puddle coming up the main trail on the side of the parking lot, but I never saw it

[Dinusaur]

Nice list reciketley. I met you up there; you were coming in as I was leaving. Looks like post-lunch may be better for birding. I only saw probably half what you listed. Nice to see quite a few fellow birders exploring the trails in that area.

[mr.sharp-photo]

Nice list reciketley. I met you up there; you were coming in as I was leaving. Looks like post-lunch may be better for birding. I only saw probably half what you listed. Nice to see quite a few fellow birders exploring the trails in that area.

morning temps, i think, have a lot to do with it. with the ground still soggy and nighttime lows being low, the bugs and stuff probably take some time to warm up and get active.

[Dinusaur]

That's a good point; I'll keep that in mind next time. Thanks.