March 2011 Totals

Tree Swallow

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

March was a pretty slow month for birding. I was only able to get out and look for birds on three occassions this month due (due in part to the weather and other obligations). I should be able to make up for it over the next couple months.

I witnessed the return of several common summer species this month. On a couple of occassions I saw a small group of Tree Swallows (swallows being a common sight in the summers) performing acrobatics over Coot Pond at Oxley Nature Center. I also heard and saw the familiar summer visitor the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher in the North Woods.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)    8


Gadwall (Anas strepera)     25


Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)     5


Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)      35


Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)     17


Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)     22


Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)     10


Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)      25


American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)     19


Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)     2


Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)     1


Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)     1


Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)     1


American Coot (Fulica americana)       230


Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)      120


Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)     1


Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)      10


Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)     3

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)     3


Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)     3


Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)      3


Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)     2


American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)     3


Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)      15


Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)     12


Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)     3


Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)     2


Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)     1


Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)     1


Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)     1


Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)     4


Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)     1


Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)     2


White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)     5


Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)     3


Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)     14


Tree Swallow photo courtesy of Pictures of Birds
(http://www.pictures-of-birds.info/2009/02/pictures-of-birds-tree-swallow-birds-pictures-and-tree-swallow-birds-kind/)
 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher photo courtesy of Paul Tessler, found at Birdzilla.com
(http://www.birdzilla.com/images/stories/450images/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-450.jpg)
 
-SPQ 3/30/2011