With low fog hanging around the mountains after yesterday's rain, I decided to stay in the valley this morning and headed over to the trail. Although I saw 31 species, there were very few small birds around. Perhaps this was because of three people walking/running with two dogs, four dogs, and three dogs, respectively, and some of the dogs were running loose, but more likely the low number was a result of the habitat loss.
The highlights of the morning came as I was heading back to my car after two hours on the trail. I saw a Red-tailed Hawk being harassed by some crows, and then my eye caught a Bald Eagle flying downstream along the river just on the other side. The hawk didn't seem to mind me, but was more interested in keeping an eye on the crows. I tried an experiment- I talked loudly trying to chase the crows away, and it worked, and the hawk still remained on the branch even after the crows had left, letting me continue taking photos of it. Perhaps it was grateful, or perhaps the hawk had seen me before on the trail and was used to me??
Great Blue Heron
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Bluebird
Swamp Sparrow
Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk and American Crows
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
This morning's list (31 species):
Tree Swallow NRW Swallow Barn Swallow Red-bellied Woodpecker Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Eastern Towhee Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Carolina Wren American Goldfinch Red-winged Blackbird American Crow Mourning Dove Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Tufted Titmouse Rock Pigeon Red-tailed Hawk Canada Goose Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Kingfisher Great Blue Heron |