…you arrive at what you think is going to be a quick stop (Wagner Arboretum in Warren), and you spend 2-1/2 hours there; …you see your “target” species (Vesper Sparrow) not once, but four times over the course of the visit, with long looks three of the four times (gosh what a handsome bird!); …there are Purple Finches and Pine Siskins in the air nearly every minute, the latter in flocks of 8-12; …two Pileated Woodpeckers are flying around non-stop for nearly an hour, raising a ruckus; …you can’t see the Screech-Owl the small birds have found, but you know it’s there, because every small bird in the vicinity is looking into a hole in a snag and chipping loudly; …TEN American Kestrels are perched on one strand of telephone wire, and four more are perched in another tree across the road; …your favorite sparrow (Lincoln’s–OK, not the 23 that Roger Johnson observed this morning) perches atop a bush for three full minutes, with the illumination so perfect you can see the rose-colored eye ring against its olive face, the narrow stripes on the chestnut crown, and the tiny streaks on the white throat; …a lone Yellow-bellied Sapsucker comes down out of the sky just as you’re thinking it’s time to go; …an adult Bald Eagle is perched in a nearby tree when you DO get into your car, making it a 51-species visit;
…and you read about Brown Boobies, a Northern Wheatear and an Evening Grosbeak (what a dichotomy!) on text alerts.
I hope everyone else who was able to be outside this morning had as enjoyable a few hours.