The forecast for clearing skies did not materialize, and the morning
of April 26th dawned gray, dreary and drizzly.
Nevertheless, at 7 am, 14 hardy birders met in the Roaring Brook Nature Center
to see what the spring migration had to offer.
Sadly, it was not much as the cool, damp conditions were not favorable to
birdsong, and a week-long period of winds from the north had not spurred
small songbirds to move against the wind.The few birds around the Nature Center building were keeping
low in the brush, not wishing to expose themselves to the
less than ideal weather conditions, and by the time
we reached the fields, our list was but half of what had
been seen on a bird walk the previous day.
Other than a few breeding-plumaged goldfinches
chasing each other around, and a couple of bright crimson
male cardinals, there was not much movement.
A vocal gray catbird was our first real migrant, but
things did not improve much as we were unable to find the
bluebird pair seen the previous day.
Leaving the fields and entering the woods,
we finally began to hear and even see a few birds as a
singing blue-headed vireo and a group of brightly-plumaged
male yellow-rumped warblers were found high in the trees.
As we approached the pond, the sky finally began to
brighten just a tiny bit, and we were able to add belted kingfisher,
brown creeper and blue-gray gnatcatcher to our list.
Our nicest observation, and a nice way to end our walk, was a very
obliging male yellow-bellied sapsucker, who posed for photos while
he drummed away at close range on a dead standing tree.
A meager 28 species was seen/heard during the trip, far below what
would be expected on this date.A trip list follows.
Jay Kaplan, Trip Leader
Trip Birds
1. Mourning Dove
2. Red-shouldered Hawk
3. Red-tailed Hawk
4. Belted Kingfisher
5. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
6. Red-bellied Woodpecker
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Northern Flicker
9. Eastern Phoebe
10. Blue-headed Vireo
11. Blue Jay
12. American Crow
13. Black-capped Chickadee
14. Tufted Titmouse
