Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow
It rained a ton yesterday. I assumed that the trails at the Clark's Creek Nature Preserve would be wet and muddy, and that turned out to be correct. I thought that if the birds had been hunkered down all day yesterday, then they might be hungry and out foraging today, and perhaps there might have been a fall-out of migrating birds to get out of the rain. I had already logged 58 avian species this week in the Charlotte area, and hoped to get at least 2 more today. It turned out that I got 6 more trip species.
There was heavy cloud cover, and it was quite cool and windy, making for a raw morning, but right off the bat, I got two new trip species.
Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow
Killdeer
I saw many of the same species I had seen earlier this week.
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird
Field Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
American Goldfinches
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
House Wren
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
House Finch
Purple Finch
Some of the same warbler species were still there.
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Blackpoll Warblers were a new trip species for me.
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
I saw my first Red-winged Blackbird of the trip.
Red-winged Blackbird
I had seen a Golden-crowned Kinglet this week at Cowan's Ford Wildlife Refuge, but saw my first one here at Clark's Creek.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
While I was hiking, I saw a falcon-sized bird fly from a tree, but wasn't able to get a good look at it, and only a few photos of it flying away. I'm not sure what it was, but my best guess is a juvenile Merlin.
Juvenile Merlin(?)
I also saw a flycatcher that appeared to be one of the Empidonax species (Willow, Alder, Acadian) because of its bold eye-ring and rounded wing shape. Its long wingtips seem to rule out a Least Flycatcher. I did not hear it singing or calling. The habitat where I saw it makes a Willow more likely than the others, but during migration, there's no way to be sure.
Juvenile Merlin(?)
Juvenile Merlin(?)
As I was getting ready to leave, I saw some American Crows mobbing a hawk in the distance. It was a Red-shouldered Hawk, and my 56th avian species seen this week at Clark's Creek. I ended this trip with 64 avian species shown below.
American Crow and Red-shoulderd Hawk
Trip list (species marked with * were seen at locations other than Clark's Creek):
Double-crested Cormorant *
Mallard *
Ruddy Duck *
American Coot *
Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier *
Merlin ?
Killdeer
U/A Sandpiper
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Empidonax Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo *
Blue Jay
American Crow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
House Wren
Marsh Wren *
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Eastern Bluebird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Blackpoll Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Pine Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Dark-eyed Junco
Common Grackle *
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Purple Finch