Cool early this morning and then a wind came up, but it was so bright
and sunny, it was a great morning for a bird walk. We met at Milkhouse
Farm in Monmouth. Twelve people found it without difficulty and we did
have a good time walking the fields and farm roads. One of the first
birds was a couple American Pipits which we flushed multiple times,
perhaps a dozen in groups of 4 to 7. The next bird we flushed was a
Wilson’s Snipe, and we eventually had three of them. Then there were
Bluebirds who sat in trees and just let us look at them! We had a few
sparrows but most were Song Sparrows.
We certainly thank Andy and Caitlin for allowing us to walk around their
fascinating dairy farm. This is one of those special places such that
when you drive by you just want to stop and go walk the fields, and this
morning we did.
Birds seen and heard (H):
Rock Pigeon – is there a farm without them?
Wilson’s Snipe – 3
Bald Eagle – 1 adult soaring
Blue Jay (H)
American Crow
Common Raven – 2 flyover
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown Creeper – maybe only seen by Gordon
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 1 or 2, not seen well
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 2 or 3 seen better
Eastern Bluebird – 5
European Starling – 100+
House Sparrow
American Pipit – maybe 19 if not double counting
American Goldfinch
Savannah Sparrow – maybe 6, one or two seen well
Song Sparrow – 8+
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 1 or 2 not seen well by most
Swamp Sparrow – like Lincoln’s
White-throated Sparrow – 2 and they were seen well
Common Grackle
Common Yellowthroat – 1 female well
Palm Warbler – 1 well
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1 or 2 seen by a few
Northern Cardinal (H)
Stan DeOrsey