Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Northern Parula
Location:
Mohawk Park--Oxley Nature Center
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=211656245233415273419.0004a07cb2e04da8c017a&ll=36.225546,-95.891118&spn=0.016514,0.027509&t=h&z=15
Observation date:
4/8/11
Number of species:
31
I noticed a tremendous amount of "summer birds" that had made their way back into the area (or are passing through) during this trip to Oxley. In the past two weeks I had seen a couple of migrants coming through, starting with the group of Tree Swallows I observed over at Coot Pond in the North Woods back in mid-March. This visit had an overwhelming array of new seasonal birds.
The usual summer wading birds (Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron) were back with a vengence; it was fantastic to see the pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons - I rarely get to see them. I am looking forward to seeing the Snowy Egrets that usually make their home at Oxley Nature Center.
As for waterfowl, I spied the same group of birds I have seen during the past few weeks (Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Coot) as well as a new addition: the Double-Crested Cormorant (in fact, I first noticed a very large group of cormorants on Lake Yahola while entering the park).
In the category of passerine birds, during the past month I have observed a couple "summer species" in the past month (Tree Swallows, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers). This trip I was lucky enough to see single Northern Parula (though I probably heard several more)and several Eastern Bluebirds.
Canada Goose -
Branta canadensis 22
Gadwall -
Anas strepera 8
Blue-winged Teal -
Anas discors 95
Northern Shoveler -
Anas clypeata 42
Pied-billed Grebe -
Podilymbus podiceps 2
Double-crested Cormorant -
Phalacrocorax auritus 11
Great Blue Heron -
Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret -
Ardea alba 7
Little Blue Heron -
Egretta caerulea 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron -
Nyctanassa violacea 2
Red-tailed Hawk -
Buteo jamaicensis 1
American Coot -
Fulica americana 38
Belted Kingfisher -
Megaceryle alcyon 3
Downy Woodpecker -
Picoides pubescens 1
Northern Flicker -
Colaptes auratus 1
Eastern Phoebe -
Sayornis phoebe 1
Blue Jay -
Cyanocitta cristata 2
American Crow -
Corvus brachyrhynchos 3
Carolina Chickadee -
Poecile carolinensis 4
Tufted Titmouse -
Baeolophus bicolor 9
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -
Polioptila caerulea 16
Eastern Bluebird -
Sialia sialis 2
Hermit Thrush -
Catharus guttatus 1
American Robin -
Turdus migratorius 3
European Starling -
Sturnus vulgaris 1
Northern Parula -
Parula americana 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler -
Dendroica coronata 1
Song Sparrow -
Melospiza melodia 7
White-throated Sparrow -
Zonotrichia albicollis 2
Northern Cardinal -
Cardinalis cardinalis 9
Red-winged Blackbird -
Agelaius phoeniceus 1
Photo of Yellow-crowned Night Heron courtesy of Terry Foote, via Wikipedia.org
Photo of Northern Parula courtesy of Lana Hays, via sdakotabirds.com
-SPQ 4/9/2011
