Birding 101 Saturday 5th October
One of the joys of birding the same location on a regular basis is that you gain an appreciation of the natural cycles of the birding calendar. Birding 101 has been running at Lick Creek since well before I started with the program 12 years ago and at this point, we have a keen appreciation for which are going to be the “better months” in terms of species diversity, and turnout from the crowd. October is always an interesting one. With the blast furnace temperatures of summer (almost/just/hopefully…) behind us, we almost always get a good crowd. The birds however, can be somewhat of a lottery. I remember a few years back, when Linda Hale, Neil Diaz and I desperately tried to wrangle a crowd of 35 people through the Yaupon Loop with barely a bird to be heard, never mind seen. There had been very few hummers on the feeders, and a brief sighting of a Nashville warbler was missed by 90% of the participants. I was close to writing it off as a complete disaster when out of the firmament descended a large kettle of broad-winged hawks that came down surprisingly low, circling the crowd literally just above the tree line. People were blown away and said it was one of the best bird walks they had ever been on, praising the fantastic job done by the guides……. that’s the way Octobers can go… you always know it’s going to be a big crowd and you just hope the birds deliver….
This Saturday 28 people turned out for the bird walk and myself and Kalina Eskew led, with help from Jeffery Ward, Alberto Manterola, Michelle McGhee and Nancy and John Thaden. Arriving before the crowd – the area around the visitor center was pretty birdy with INCA DOVE, EASTERN PHOEBE and multiple RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. Unfortunately, it felt as if things were dying down a bit by the time of the walk, and by the time all of our participants had their binoculars and the introductory speeches were over, the birds and begun to quiet down- probably due to it warming up rather faster than we had hoped. We started in the main garden and worked our way along the main trail (Deer run) before briefly venturing onto Raccoon run for a short spell in the shade. Most of the birds stayed well-hidden or were just heard only, but we were able to get the crowd on some of the more common species such as NORTHERN CARDINAL, and TUFTED TITMOUSE as well as heard-only BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. Walking into the bottom land, WHITE-EYED VIREO were calling but stayed hidden, as were BROWN-THRASHER, a species we eventually were able to get eyes on. A heard-only NASHVILLE WARBLER was the only warbler species of the day and remained elusive. By this time the birds had really become quiet, and as we struggled to even get people on the more common birds such as DOWNY WOODPECKER and CAROLINA WREN, I was kicking myself for forgetting my laser pointer. A number of people started to leave, and I began to wonder if the walk was disappointing to them, always a tough feeling when you are leading… then right on cue- no sooner had they left…….the WOODSTORK arrived!! Spotted by Michelle McGhee, a fantastic flyover of ten migrating birds! This species had historically been tricky for the County, before Sulfur Springs became a popular birding location, with many of the more active birders going years before they finally got it on their list. It was only the second time to my knowledge that they had been seen on a birding 101, the only other time being on this July’s outing, and was only the third record for Lick Creek Park, the previous record being back in 2009. What a treat!!!! A GRAY CATBIRD provided some entertainment for the remaining participants on the return journey, as did a nice showing of butterflies at the Chimney Swift Tower Garden (including Clouded Skipper, and Cloudless Sulfur)
Good times- thanks to everyone who came out and made it a fun morning!
Mark
21 species
Inca Dove
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Wood stork
Black vulture
Turkey vulture
Red-bellied woodpecker
Downy woodpecker
Eastern phoebe
White-eyed vireo
Blue Jay
American crow
Carolina chickadee
Tufted titmouse
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Carolina wren
Gray catbird
Brown thrasher
Red-winged blackbird
Nashville warbler
Northern cardinal