Coffee County
May 17, 2014
Susan McWhirter led ten birders around Bark Camp Barrens WMA this morning, and it resulted in an interesting (for lack of a better word!) trip. The weather was abnormally cool for May - around 50 F with a slight drizzle, strengthening near the end of the trip. It was slow-going at first, but things sped up when we found three Loggerhead Shrikes - two adults and one juvenile. (There might have been four, but they were darting around as quick as warblers!) These were observed on the electrical wire that runs behind the barn on Warren Road. We walked around the fields a bit and flushed a pair of Northern Bobwhites and got great looks at a calling male Blue Grosbeak. Near one of the plowed areas we found a couple of late Savannah Sparrows. As we were walking along the pine stand in the recently-burned field (the field that can be accessed from the sod farm), we finally heard a Henslow's Sparrow! The bird was on the opposite side of the tree line, so we climbed through the barbed wire fence to get some looks at him. It didn't take long to find him; he was perched next to some bright yellow flowers throwing back his head every now and then to give his "tsi-lick". A complete list of species can be found below. A big thanks to Susan for leading us out here!
35 species
| Northern Bobwhite - 2 Wild Turkey - 3 Red-tailed Hawk - 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 Great Crested Flycatcher - 2 Eastern Kingbird - 3 Loggerhead Shrike - 3 White-eyed Vireo - 1 Blue Jay - 2 American Crow - 1 Barn Swallow - 3 Tufted Titmouse - 1 Carolina Wren - 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1 Brown Thrasher - 2 Northern Mockingbird - 1 |
Common Yellowthroat - 7 Yellow-throated Warbler - 2 Prairie Warbler - 2 Black-throated Green Warbler - 1 Yellow-breasted Chat - 6 Eastern Towhee - 6 Field Sparrow - 11 Savannah Sparrow - 2 Henslow's Sparrow - 1 Summer Tanager - 2 Scarlet Tanager - 1 Northern Cardinal - 1 Blue Grosbeak - 4 Indigo Bunting - 7 Red-winged Blackbird - 3 Eastern Meadowlark - 8 Brown-headed Cowbird - 2 |
Chloe Walker - NTOS Field Trip Coordinator
