hookem2010
Well-known member
With a new job, a house requiring numerous projects, a toddler, and another one on the way, I've been focusing my birding largely within a 2-mile radius from home. I live in a quickly developing suburb, but fortunately, there are several islands of green scattered amongst the ever-expanding concrete tendrils.
With the child at daycare, I squeezed in a morning walk at the 640 acre Old Settlers Park. At least half the land is sporting fields, however there are some wooded areas and a decent sized pond in the center of the park that is good for waterfowl. While my hoped for cinnamon teal did not materialize, I did turn up a lone migrating blue-winged teal, along with 7 other duck species. Blackbirds numbered 100-200, including a single common grackle and a couple dozen Brewer's blackbirds. A FOY scissor-tailed flycatcher flew south over the lake, heralding the imminent arrival of spring. I was also able to add a male eastern bluebird and a singing bewick's wren to my park list. On the way out, a loggerhead shrike made 41 species in about an hour without having to venture down the wooded trails.
I hustled through some housework to see what else I could turn up at other nearby parks. Meadow Lake looked quiet initially, with the water empty save for 2 coots and a double-crested cormorant. Purple martins swirled overhead and savannah sparrows foraged in the grass alongside the ubiquitous great-tailed grackles and red-winged blackbirds, but activity was otherwise slow so I relocated to the north side of the park. I was immediately greeted by the flash of a red belly, as a female vermilion flycatcher, quite rare for this part of the county, hawked insects. A vesper sparrow temporarily shared a tree with its flashier friend, both new park birds for me.
At 50 species for the day, I decided to see how many more I could tack on in my remaining 90 minutes of free time. I moved half a mile down the road to th tiny, but productive Rock Hollow Park. The pond was nearly empty, so I walked into the grassy field, scattering numerous savannah and chipping sparrows. One bird that popped up into a tree struck me as different. Further inspection revealed it to be a migrating grasshoper sparrow, a new county bird for me! A white-eyed vireo and blue-gray gnatcatcher sang from the woods and allowed brief views, recent returnees in the last week. A number of dark-eyed juncos, a species I don't often encounter in other nearby parks, drank from the stream, making 8 species of sparrow in about 45 minutes.
With only 20 minutes left to spare, I stopped by my neighborhood park and added a couple more species, most notably a cooper's hawk loitering around its nest.
All told, I was able to tally 62 species in about 3 hours of birding within 2 miles of my house, including 2 new county birds. Not a crazy number, but when I started birding in 2016, I would never have guessed I could leisurely see 60+ species in the heart of suburbia.
With the child at daycare, I squeezed in a morning walk at the 640 acre Old Settlers Park. At least half the land is sporting fields, however there are some wooded areas and a decent sized pond in the center of the park that is good for waterfowl. While my hoped for cinnamon teal did not materialize, I did turn up a lone migrating blue-winged teal, along with 7 other duck species. Blackbirds numbered 100-200, including a single common grackle and a couple dozen Brewer's blackbirds. A FOY scissor-tailed flycatcher flew south over the lake, heralding the imminent arrival of spring. I was also able to add a male eastern bluebird and a singing bewick's wren to my park list. On the way out, a loggerhead shrike made 41 species in about an hour without having to venture down the wooded trails.
I hustled through some housework to see what else I could turn up at other nearby parks. Meadow Lake looked quiet initially, with the water empty save for 2 coots and a double-crested cormorant. Purple martins swirled overhead and savannah sparrows foraged in the grass alongside the ubiquitous great-tailed grackles and red-winged blackbirds, but activity was otherwise slow so I relocated to the north side of the park. I was immediately greeted by the flash of a red belly, as a female vermilion flycatcher, quite rare for this part of the county, hawked insects. A vesper sparrow temporarily shared a tree with its flashier friend, both new park birds for me.
At 50 species for the day, I decided to see how many more I could tack on in my remaining 90 minutes of free time. I moved half a mile down the road to th tiny, but productive Rock Hollow Park. The pond was nearly empty, so I walked into the grassy field, scattering numerous savannah and chipping sparrows. One bird that popped up into a tree struck me as different. Further inspection revealed it to be a migrating grasshoper sparrow, a new county bird for me! A white-eyed vireo and blue-gray gnatcatcher sang from the woods and allowed brief views, recent returnees in the last week. A number of dark-eyed juncos, a species I don't often encounter in other nearby parks, drank from the stream, making 8 species of sparrow in about 45 minutes.
With only 20 minutes left to spare, I stopped by my neighborhood park and added a couple more species, most notably a cooper's hawk loitering around its nest.
All told, I was able to tally 62 species in about 3 hours of birding within 2 miles of my house, including 2 new county birds. Not a crazy number, but when I started birding in 2016, I would never have guessed I could leisurely see 60+ species in the heart of suburbia.
