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Saturday birdwalk sightings



Howdy folks,

This morning's Ellerbe Spring Birdwalk was short but oh-so-sweet! We
couldn't even get out of the Indian Trail parking lot at first, as a
Hermit Thrush was blocking the path, feeding on the ground, posing next to
a pair of American Robins for comparison, and giving us great close-up
looks from just about every angle.

THat got us off to a good start, but the high point of the walk came right
after that, as we spotted an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk swooping through
the meadow; then someone pointed out that it was swooping on a Green
Heron! This confrontation continued for a minute or two, with the hawk
swooping and the agitated heron protesting vocally, until both of them
flew off toward Hillandale Golf Course.

We walked from there through Six Acre Wood to Westover Park and back,
getting looks of varying quality at Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned
Kinglets, Cedar Waxwings, and plenty more, plus a Red-shouldered Hawk that
flew overhead a few times, and being serenaded by a mostly invisible
White-eyed Vireo at the footbridge. At Westover an Eastern Phoebe was
calling by the Guess Road bridge. The group dwindled toward the end, as
some people had to leave, but the last hard-core few were treated to an
especially nice close-up look at an adult Red-shouldered Hawk that flew
out of the creek channel when we got back to Indian Trail.

Of course, the rarest bird of the day appeared after everybody else had
left. I went back to the creek because I needed to talk to Steve Hiltner,
who had disappeared (I found him at his house later). But I looked up
above the creek and saw a bird flying whose wings seemed to span wider
than the creek did! It was an OSPREY, first one ever at Six Acre Wood!

Complete list of birds seen or heard is below. Anyone who's up for a
much longer, messier, more intense birding trip along Ellerbe Creek is
welcome to assist me on the Durham Spring Bird Count on April 27. Good
birding!

	Birds:
Green Heron
Mallard
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk (maybe)
Red-shouldered Hawk
Osprey! (new species for both preserve and watershed lists)
*Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Crow sp. (did not call, couldn't tell if it was American or Fish)
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
White-eyed Vireo
Pine Warbler (maybe; heard only)
Northern Cardinal
Eastern (Rufous-sided) Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
*House Sparrow

	Plants:
* = exotic species
+ = in flower

*Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) +
*English Ivy (Hedera helix)
*Periwinkle (Vinca minor) +
*Climbing Euonymus/Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei)
*Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
*Japanese Stilt-grass (Microstegium vimineum)
*Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
Mulberry (Morus sp.)
Pinxter Azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) + (planted there by ECWA)
Iris sp. (also planted by ECWA)
Elderberry (Sambucus americana)
Jewelweed (Impatiens maculata)
Redbud (Cercis canadensis) +
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) +
Black Willow (Salix nigra) +
Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) +
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)+
Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) +
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
River Birch (Betula nigra)
Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/