June 7, 2014
Nine birders showed up for the Rutherford/Wilson county field trip this morning, Saturday June 7th. Fortunately, the morning wasn't too hot and was free of rain showers. The target birds cooperated nicely, several of which were life birds for many of the participants.
We began by taking a brief walk around the Discovery Center Wetlands. This was somewhat successful; we found several muskrats, a raccoon, Wood Duck and Mallard ducklings, and an agitated Green Heron. Next we drove along Florence Road and found two Scissor-tailed Flycatchers at two different locations. After Florence Road we checked the speedway in Wilson county and were happy to find two Lark Sparrows and had wonderful looks at a Cliff Swallow. We moved on to Simmons Bluff Road and found a Red-headed Woodpecker in a stand of trees. At the corner of Simmons Bluff Road and Cedar Forest Road, we were thrilled to see three additional Lark Sparrows, one of which appeared to be a recently-fledged juvenile. Several participants were fortunate enough to see a fly-over Cattle Egret on Cedar Forest Road as well. On Barlow Lane, we had outstanding views of both a Dickcissel and a Grasshopper Sparrow on electrical wires. Finally we checked Middlepoint Landfill and saw a handsome male Blue Grosbeak that was wonderfully colored against the purple Thistle.
A big thanks to Terry Witt for co-leading the trip. Also, thanks to those who joined us on this wonderful outing. A complete checklist can be found below.
67 species
| Canada Goose - 15+ (some w/ducklings) Wood Duck - 15+ (some w/ ducklings) Mallard - 15+ (some w/ ducklings) Northern Bobwhite - 3 Wild Turkey - x Great Blue Heron - 4 Green Heron - 1 Black Vulture - 100+ Turkey Vulture - 20+ Red-tailed Hawk - 6 Killdeer - 2 Rock Pigeon - x Mourning Dove - 20+ Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 2 (heard) Chimney Swift - x Belted Kingfisher - 1 Red-headed Woodpecker - 2 (one seen; one heard) Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Northern Flicker - 1 American Kestrel - 3 Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1 (heard) Eastern Phoebe - 3 Great Crested Flycatcher - 1 (heard) Eastern Kingbird - 4 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - 2 Blue Jay - 2 American Crow - 8 White-eyed Vireo - 2 (heard) Yellow-throated Vireo - 1 (heard) Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 20+ Purple Martin - 1 Barn Swallow - 40+ Cliff Swallow - 1 |
Carolina Chickadee - 2 Tufted Titmouse - 2 Carolina Wren - 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2 Eastern Bluebird - 20+ (one juvenile) American Robin - 20+ Brown Thrasher - 1 (heard) Northern Mockingbird - 6 European Starling - x Kentucky Warbler - 2 (heard) Common Yellowthroat - 3 (heard) Prairie Warbler - 3 (only one seen) Yellow-breasted Chat - 3 (heard) Eastern Towhee - 4 Chipping Sparrow - 5 Field Sparrow - 20+ Lark Sparrow - 5 (four adults; one juvenile) Grasshopper Sparrow - 10+ (one seen) Song Sparrow - 2 Summer Tanager - 2 (heard) Scarlet Tanager - 1 (heard) Northern Cardinal - 11 Blue Grosbeak - 6 (only two seen) Indigo Bunting - 20+ Dickcissel - 10+ (only one seen) Eastern Meadowlark - 20+ Red-winged Blackbird - 10+ Common Grackle - 20+ Brown-headed Cowbird - 10+ Orchard Oriole - 5 House Finch - 9 American Goldfinch - 6 House Sparrow - x |
The following pictures were taken by Chloe during the field trip. Lark Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Raccoon.
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Chloe Walker - NTOS Field Trip Coordinator
