After almost losing hope of seeing the elusive Prothonotary Warbler, one sang close behind us, then two birds proceeded to flit through the trees of the wet woods, feeding and singing right over the path. The nestling Downy Woodpecker found last week was still being fed by both parents, who were undoubtedly prodded by it's incessant cries. We also watched as what appeared to be another Downy Woodpecker nest was being attacked by a European Starling. The starling repeatedly perched at the nest hole and, with bill open as wide as the hole, tried to reach something inside. Eggs? Young? We couldn't tell. But the male and female woodpeckers close by were obviously upset. A search on Cornell's All About Birds showed "starlings compete fiercely for nesting cavities, ousting such native birds as bluebirds and various woodpeckers. They sometimes kill the original cavity-holding birds, and often destroy their eggs and young." We'll see what's at that spot next week. Leaders: Kathy & Roger Horn, Karl Lukens, and Cindy Bamford.
47 species
Canada Goose 2
Mallard 2
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Osprey 1
Killdeer 1
Laughing Gull 12
Herring Gull (American) 1
Forster's Tern 1
Mourning Dove 5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 4
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 4
White-eyed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 3
Fish Crow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Purple Martin 3
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 6
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
House Wren 1
Carolina Wren 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
American Robin 7
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 9
Cedar Waxwing 5
Prothonotary Warbler 3
Common Yellowthroat 6
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Northern Cardinal 7
Blue Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 6
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Common Grackle 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
House Finch 93
House Sparrow 10
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
