[bcbirdclub] Another Burkes Garden Outing

From: "Roger Mayhorn" <rmayhorn@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "BCBC Listserve" <bcbirdclub@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:47:04 -0500
On Wednesday, March 5, I was invited by David Raines to join him, his cousin 
and BCBC member, Dan Kendrick and their cousin, Steve Sweeney, for an outing to 
Burkes Garden. Dan and Steve were visiting from Kentucky and Ohio and had never 
been to The Garden and they wanted to see it. 
In spite of a forecast for rain showers we were lucky and had only a few 
spinkles throughout the day and moderate temperatures. We were hoping for a 
Golden Eagle or Rough-legged Hawk, but evidently they have moved on northward 
because we never found either. However, the day turned out to be a great day of 
birding. We logged 47 species, which surprised us all since most of the spring 
migrants haven't gotten to our area yet.
The highlight of the day was a Peregrine Falcon that late in the day flew 
across the roadway then perched in a distant tree, where we were able to see it 
with the use of the spotting scope. We had just run into Dave Worley and 
fortunately, he got to see it too. We also found our first Tree Swallow for 
this year. It was spotted by sharp-eyed Dan Kendrick as it swooped and turned 
in the distance. In a pasture that was mostly clear of snow we found 7 Rusty 
Blackbirds among some Starlings and Robins. Four Wilson's Snipes were feeding 
in a small marshy area along with a couple of Mallards. We had hoped to see the 
Barred Owl that we had found there the previous Sunday, but it was not to be 
found. We were lucky to see one after dark as we drove up and out of The 
Garden. 

Birds were not the only creatures on the move. We saw 3 or 4 raccoons, not as 
many as the 12 or 13 we saw on Sunday, but like the ones on Sunday the "coons" 
looked like they may have had a hard time of it with all of the deep snow. 
Other mammals we spotted were 3 skunks, a red fox, a muskrat, a ground hog and 
many deer. At one point 14 deer were feeding together in a field. 

Here is a link to several photos I took throghout the day. 
http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/burkes_garden_mar2010

Following is the day's complete bird list.

Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt


47 species (about 3000 birds)

Canada Geese 43

Green-winged Teal 21

Black Duck 15

Mallard 30

Wood Duck 1

Hooded Merganser 2

Great Blue Heron 1

Belted Kingfisher 3

Wilson's Snipe 4

Bald Eagle 1 (on nest)

Red-tailed Hawk 3

Cooper's Hawk 1

Peregrine Falcon 1

American Kestrel 3

Barred Owl 1

Turkey Vulture 72

Black Vulture 2

American Crow 17

Common Raven 5

Blue Jay 6

Downy Woodpecker 3

Hairy Woodpecker 2

Pileated Woodpecker 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 5

Northern Flicker 2

Brown-headed Cowbird 2

Carolina Chickadee 1

Dark-eyed Junco 2

Eastern Bluebird 15

Eastern Meadowlark 42

Eastern Phoebe 1

Red-winged Blackbird 1500

Rusty Blackbird 7

Common Grackle 19

European Starling 800

American Goldfinch 7

American Robin 77

Horned Lark 40

House Finch 1

House Sparrow 47

Killdeer 7

Mourning Dove 5

Northern Cardinal 1

Rock Pigeon 44

Song Sparrow 20

Tree Swallow 1 (1st of the season)

White-breasted Nuthatch 1
[bcbirdclub] Another Burkes Garden Outing

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