Wet Woods - week of April 13

[mr.sharp-photo]

birded the wet woods and marina rd. saw Kris and we tried to find stuff and things. little activity until it warmed up.

-savannah sparrow(s) - on marina rd
-yb sapsuckers - closer to marina rd and unwin rd
-flickers - a whole bunch
-phoebe
-mockingbird
-both kinglets
-creepers
-white throated sparrow
-raven
-male northern shoveller (marina rd)
-*maybe* one yellow rumped warbler. didn't get a solid look and it flew west.
-juncos

Kris will probably chime in if i forgot things

[nana]

much cooler today and quite quiet. Towhee, Thrasher singing non-stop, Red-tail, Peregrine flying thru the woods, a beautiful pair of Wood Ducks in one of the deep puddles, and 4 Caspian Terns over the water near the bridge

[Kris Ito]

I'll just add a few:

Kingfishers
Hermit Thrush
Fox Sparrow
Barn & Tree Swallows
House Finch

Apparently there was also a Pine Warbler reported yesterday by another reliable birder. Looking back at my own ebird reports from the same week last year, the lists of species are almost identical. Everything seems to be arriving right on schedule! Also just a note that although the woods are much drier than usual, there are still some areas that are flooded so waterproof boots are still advised.  -kris  

Savannah Sparrow by Kris Ito, on Flickr

[rickeckley]

Tuesday April 14 - 9:15-12:15.

The Wet Woods were very very quiet today, especially after I saw 50 species on Sunday two days ago.  The only new bird I saw (and that I haven't seen reported by others already) was a Rusty Blackbird.  It was off the trail coming up from the parking lot where the path forks right.  It was among all the female Red Winged Blackbirds near the long narrow puddle. Another reliable birder, Bob, saw a Merlin chasing one of the Ravens.  No sign of the Pine or any Yellow-Rumps.

Rick

[Kris Ito]

Popped into the woods at 4:30 today for a quick tour. There was one pocket of good activity on the west side. The most important development is probably the swarms of midges that will feed our favourite birds for the next few weeks. I may have seen a fleeting glimpse of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher reported earlier, but could not relocated it to be 100% sure. The downside of birding this late in the day was the quickly fading light that made it really tough to get photos.
Here are the highlights:

1 Pine Warbler (finally!)
1 Field Sparrow
4 Fox Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrow
3 Hermit Thrush
3 Winter Wren
5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 Eastern Phoebe
Lots of Flickers

[rickeckley]

Day of the Junco:

The Wet Woods were quiet today from 10-1, but there were buckets of Juncos in every nook and cranny.  Highlights included:


Pine Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
Coopers
Rough-Winged Swallow

Rick