April 14 Hills Creek State Park BIrd Walk Sees Warmer Weather, 51 Species

This Saturday’s walk was much  nicer day than  last week’s, but it was still a little on the chilly side. We had 16 participants, the youngest being 9 years old. It is always nice to see young people showing a real interest in birding. We had a great day as you can see from the birds listed below, and we saw our first warblers of the season. As the month progress, we will see more and more spring birds migrating in and the number of waterfowl will start to decline. The ospreys are still at the nest, and hopefully they will lay eggs. The bald eagles are also sitting on their nest. By now they should have laid their eggs. We had 16 participants this Saturday and saw 51 species. Walk leaders were Sean Minnick and Rich Hanlon. Highlights included Bonaparte gulls, pine and yellow-rumped warblers, an eastern meadowlark, a spotted sandpiper, nesting ospreys, a bald eagle, pied-bill grebes, buffleheads, ring-necked ducks, wood ducks, gadwalls, hooded and common mergansers, double-crested cormorants, a brown creeper, a hermit thrush, and many others.

Next week’s walk will be at the same time, same place – Hills Creek State Park office, 8:00 AM in the morning. Birders of all levels are welcome to come.

Pine Warbler by Gary Tyson