Turkey Hill and Weir River Farm; October 26, 2013

Five people joined me in a stroll around Turkey Hill and the Weir River Farm on a beautiful sunny day that started with freezing temperatures but warmed up over the course of four hours to about 60 degrees.  Birds were present in large numbers, but the most exciting were probably the two Indigo Buntings that were flitting in the shrubs below the enclosure for the Belted Galloways. One poorly seen bird was most likely a female but the other molting male posed for beautiful looks at his still rather blue breast.

The group scans for the Indigo Buntings

Osprey  1
Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  5
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  2
Blue Jay  25     Numerous; count may be low
American Crow  7
Black-capped Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
Carolina Wren  5
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  80     Numerous; count may be low
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  16
Cedar Waxwing  25     numerous; count may be low
Nashville Warbler  1     seen briefly hopping through some brush; gray head with eye ring; yellow throat
Yellow-rumped Warbler  18
Song Sparrow  15
White-throated Sparrow  12
Dark-eyed Junco  6
Northern Cardinal  4
Indigo Bunting  2
Common Grackle  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  10
House Finch  7
House Sparrow  X

Sally Avery

Belted Galloways forage at Weir River Farm