First birdy day of the season!
This morning I carried out one of our monthly wildlife surveys for the US Army Corps of Engineers at their flood control project at Colebrook River Lake. As I shivered through the first half hour of my survey, not expecting much in gloomy 40 degree weather with a steady drizzle I rounded the corner towards a beaver pond near the entrance of the project site and suddenly found myself overwhelmed by the sheer number and diversity of birds present there! Hundreds of swallows twirled over the pond while likely hundreds of warblers moved through the adjacent understory and tree tops. Many, many yellow-rumped warblers were seemingly everywhere, as were smaller numbers of Palm and Black-and-White Warblers . I saw and heard my first of the year Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper and many other noteworthy birds showed themselves during the subsequent couple of hours.
The full species list and a couple of pictures are below. A total of 58 species in the area – not bad for a frigid April day! I can’t wait for the days when this kind of birdlife will be the norm again…
Several Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows take a breather on the local beaver lodge,while hundreds more swirl around them
Another random shot of some vegetation along the edge of the pond: swallows everywhere!
Palm Warbler
A classic early-spring scene: Yellow-rumped Warbler with maple flowers
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
Brown Creeper
Northern Flicker – many individuals were highly territorial
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Most people in Connecticut associate Dark-eyed Juncos with winter, but up in the Colebrook area this is a year-round resident and breeder.
The same goes for White-throated Sparrows, which also breed in this area
Some early wildlflowers are emerging, adding to the spring-like atmosphere.This is Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis) flowers come in white, pink and purple
For those interested, here is the full list of birds observed in the Colebrook River Lake area this morning:
Location: ACE Colebrook Reservoir
Observation date: 4/20/11
Number of species: 58
Canada Goose 10
Wood Duck 7
Mallard 2
Ring-necked Duck 4
Hooded Merganser 1
Common Merganser 8
Common Loon 5
Double-crested Cormorant 11
Great Blue Heron 5
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
Downy Woodpecker 5
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 7
Eastern Phoebe 4
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 5
Common Raven 2 — on nest
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 38
Tree Swallow 250
Barn Swallow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 13
Eastern Bluebird 6
American Robin 21
Cedar Waxwing 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 120
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 3
Palm Warbler (Yellow) 9
Black-and-white Warbler 4
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 5
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 13
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 27
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Rusty Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 14
American Goldfinch 3
