Beep-Beep-Beep! When I heard the alarm go off at 6:30, I dreaded getting up. By the time we got to Green Lawn Cemetery, I was about half awake. We started walking with quite a few yawns in between and immediately male Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were spotted at the feeders. As we perused around the “pit,” we found many Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a wood-warbler. Overhead soared a Cooper’s Hawk, so the activity in the brush ceased and Darlene and Joe lost the warbler, but it got our spirits up. The Canada Geese had made nests on top of the mausoleums and were defensive of their territory. By the bridge a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was clinging to a branch high in a very large tree and it was not until after five minutes of looking that it moved and most of us saw it. Ken decided it would be fun to trick the adults, so with Tim Daniel’s iPod we went on top of the bridge and played a Hooded Warbler recording. This soon got out of hand when someone decided to play a Hooded Merganser. We simply blamed the noise on Tim’s stomach content: fiber bars.
After seeing many birds at Green Lawn Cemetery, everyone found a car and rode down the road to the Grange Insurance Audubon Center (GIAC). There we ate lunch and got a tour of the facility by employee Josh Cherubini. We learned about the ways that the GIAC saves money on heating and cooling by the positioning of their windows and roof, and about the way rain gardens work to filter water before it goes into the river. As we were about to leave, I spotted an Osprey flying away from its perch with possibly the remains of a perch in its talons.
Our next stop for the day was at Hoover Reservoir, where we met up with bird-lover Charlie Bombaci. He took us down the boardwalk and showed us another osprey nest — not the last of the day though. On the far side of the lake there was a flock of Double-crested Cormorants, which were very cool to see, as one of them flew right by the boardwalk. We then headed to Area N and began a long trek through the woods. The forest was thick with bedstraw and I was unfortunate enough to be the canvas of everyone’s “artwork,” as they called it. When everyone got to the water’s edge, Charlie heard a Prothonotary Warbler and we got quiet really fast. It was on the other side of the stream, but with its bright yellow plumage it was not hard for us to find. We were about to leave when the fishermen beside us caught a catfish. They were about to throw it back when Ken asked if he could have it. Ken grabbed it and gave it to me. As I held it next to my face and made fishy faces, its tail whacked me in the back of the head, startled me and I dropped it. The fish lay writhing on the forest floor and Ken picked it up and threw it back into the water. On our way out of the forest to head on to our next destination, John Sawvel found a Yellow-rumped Warbler. It was beautiful, especially from behind.
As we arrived at our next destination, the last of the day, it began to sprinkle a little, but it was not bad in the trees. Dick Tuttle had scopes set up at the #4 Osprey nest at Alum Creek. Dick told us about how he helped to build these nesting platforms. Just as he was finishing his speech and we got some good pictures, the rain began to come down harder, so we had to pack up and go home.
It was a great event and so many of our life lists grew quite a bit that day. My favorite birds to see were the Yellow-rumped Warblers, the Double-crested Cormorants, and the Red-headed Woodpecker.
Special thanks to: Joe Meara for taking us around Green Lawn Cemetery and sticking with us the rest of the day; Charlie Bombaci for taking us around the Hoover Reservoir and showing some of us our first warblers; Josh Cherubini for taking us on a tour of the GIAC; and Dick Tuttle for teaching us so much about Osprey, their nesting habits, and how to erect an Osprey platform.
Bird Sighting List Compiled by Aaron Tayal
1. Double-crested Cormorant
2. Great Blue Heron
3. Turkey Vulture
4. Canada Goose
5. Mallard
6. Wood Duck
7. Osprey
8. Bald Eagle
9. Cooper’s Hawk
10. American Kestrel
11. American Coot
12. Spotted Sandpiper
13. Ring-billed Gull
14. Caspian Tern
15. Mourning Dove
16. Chimney Swift
17. Belted Kingfisher
18. Red-headed Woodpecker
19. Red-bellied Woodpecker
20. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
21. Downy Woodpecker
22. Pileated Woodpecker
23. Eastern Kingbird
24. White-eyed Vireo
25. Blue Jay
26. American Crow
27. Tree Swallow
28. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
29. Barn Swallow
30. Carolina Chickadee
31. Tufted Titmouse
32. Red-breasted Nuthatch
33. White-breasted Nuthatch
34. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
35. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
36. Hermit Thrush
37. American Robin
38. Brown Thrasher
39. European Starling
40. Northern Parula
41. Yellow-rumped Warbler
42. Black-throated Green Warbler
43. Black-and-White Warbler
44. Prothonotary Warbler
45. Northern Cardinal
46. Eastern Towhee
47. Chipping Sparrow
48. Field Sparrow
49. Song Sparrow
50. White-throated Sparrow
51. Red-winged Blackbird
52. Common Grackle
53. Brown-headed Cowbird
54. House Finch
55. House Sparrow
You can view a slide show of photos from this event.