Birds of Easter 2009

Easter Sunday dawned sunny but cold. At 7:00 AM, the air temperature was 26º F. and the ground was white with frost. Taking advantage of the fine weather, I took about a 1-hour walk part-way around Crescent Lake. What follows is a list of the 28 species observed in the yard and surrounding neighborhood today:

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Mallard

Ring-necked Duck

Turkey Vulture

Ring-billed Gull

Mourning Dove

Great Horned Owl (nesting)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Blue Jay

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

European Starling

Eastern Towhee

Field Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

An additional 12 species were seen in the neighborhood during the preceding 7 days, but not today: Common Loon, Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed Grebe, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, American Crow, Tree Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Fox Sparrow, House Finch, and Pine Siskin.