Seven people gathered to bird this large grassland on a hot and humid morning with light SW winds and temps rising into the 80s before 9AM!. No less than 7 Grasshopper Sparrows were singing and a couple of individuals were seen "teed-up" on low vegetation. Crane WMA is one of only a few easily accessible locations in the state to observe this state-listed specie. Another feature here at this time of year is the number of Orchard Orioles. Post-breeding family groups are regularly encountered. This year we had 3 such groups totaling about 14 birds (it's not uncommon to have 35+ in some years).  Non-avian highlights included a good-sized Black Racer, some Calico Pennant Dragonflies, and several flowers in bloom, including Butterfly Weed & Wood Lily.


42 species

Northern Bobwhite  1    Seen well.
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Osprey  1
Herring Gull (American)  2
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Mourning Dove  8
Downy Woodpecker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Eastern Phoebe  9
Eastern Kingbird  7
Blue Jay  4
American Crow  4
Tree Swallow  3
Bank Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  11
Black-capped Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  1
House Wren  3
Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  50    Rough estimate
Gray Catbird  5
Northern Mockingbird  5
European Starling  25
Cedar Waxwing  2
Common Yellowthroat  10
Pine Warbler  9
Prairie Warbler  1
Eastern Towhee  13
Chipping Sparrow  16
Field Sparrow  16    Several juveniles
Savannah Sparrow  5
Grasshopper Sparrow  7
Song Sparrow  8
Northern Cardinal  2
Indigo Bunting  3
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  2
Brown-headed Cowbird  11
Orchard Oriole  14
Baltimore Oriole  2
American Goldfinch  5

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Vin Zollo