Location:
Mohawk Park--Oxley Nature Center
Map: http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=36.225304,-95.896311&spn=0.016514,0.027509&t=h&z=15&msid=103228297516276567813.00048bbe08a47b48af040
Observation date:
7/18/10
Number of species:
14
Great Blue Heron -
Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret -
Ardea alba 6
Snowy Egret -
Egretta thula 1
Little Blue Heron -
Egretta caerulea 1
Red-tailed Hawk -
Buteo jamaicensis 1
American Crow -
Corvus brachyrhynchos 6
Barn Swallow -
Hirundo rustica 2
Carolina Chickadee -
Poecile carolinensis 1
Tufted Titmouse -
Baeolophus bicolor 1
Carolina Wren -
Thryothorus ludovicianus 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -
Polioptila caerulea 3
Prothonotary Warbler -
Protonotaria citrea 1
Northern Cardinal -
Cardinalis cardinalis 6
Indigo Bunting -
Passerina cyanea 3
I got a somewhat late start Sunday morning (by Birding standards), so it was quite hot when I arrived at Mohawk Park.
I didn't see many birds during the first part of the walk - I could only hear a couple of crows. This made me worried that most of the birds would be resting and trying to avoid the mid-day heat. I only saw a pair of Northern Cardinals when I walked across Blackbird Marsh.
From the obervation deck along Lake Sherry I could see a couple of Great Egrets fishing along the edges of the lake. I was thrilled to be able to watch a single Snowy Egret thrash about in the shallows in search of a fish or small amphibian. Snowy Egrets are so animated and active - a great contrast to the "statue fishing" methods of the other larger wading birds. At one point the Snowy Egret took flight and landed on a fallen tree near the shore of an island in Lake Sherry. I heard a series of honks and hisses coming from the fallen tree and spotted a lone Little Blue Heron perched there.
I spent so much time watching the wading birds of Lake Sherry that some of the passerine birds in the area were unaware of my presence. A single Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was bounding along the branches of a tree near the observation deck. At one point the microbird was withing 3 feet of my head; oblivious to me and in search of some hiding insects. A Carolina Chickadee flew past the observation deck and landed on a nearby tree - also unaware of me.
I walked from the observation deck to the Blue Heron Loop. During the walk I spotted several Northern Cardinals, a pair of American Crows, and a single Tufted Titmouse. I didn't see or hear many birds during the walk around the Blue Heron Loop, excpet for a small group of American Crows that burst noisily into flight when I passed their perch.
As I began to head back to the car I spotted a Prothonotary Warbler perched on the lower branches of a tree. Such a dazzling warbler to see. It is also a bird that has an interesting place in American History:
The prothonotary warbler became known in the 1940s as the bird that, in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, established a connection between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. Chambers had testified that Hiss enjoyed bird-watching, and once bragged about seeing a prothonotary warbler. Hiss later testified to the same incident, causing many members to become convinced of the pairs' acquaintance.
-Photo courtesy of Dominic Sherony, via Wikipedia.org
-SPQ 7/19/2010
