Seven birders recorded 27 bird species this morning on Charlie's field trip to Black Lake Park.
It snowed briefly as we walked along the ditch bordering the south side of the property and duck hunter shotguns occasionally blasted west of us by the lake.
Birds of note included Eastern Phoebe, White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Sandhill Crane (2 flying overhead), Hermit Thrush, Hairy Woodpecker (excavating a tall tree stump),
American Coot (200+ on the lake despite the hunters), Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Cooper's Hawk (flew over the meadow, then perched in a distant tree),
and this pair of curious Eastern Bluebirds:
The sun came out for our last half hour but it still remained cold!
- Ric
PS: Thanks to Greg for conducting Thursday's meeting while Carol and I dealt with the aftermath of a branch falling on our garage roof. No one hurt and not a lot of damage, but definitely memorable!
