A near perfect weather day, clear, warm, dry, no wind, perfect for
birding. Eleven of us met at the Milkhouse Farm in South Monmouth. And
it was a sparrow day. There were Savannah Sparrows everywhere, lots of
Song Sparrows, many Swamp Sparrows, and one Lapland Longspur seen early, then
a number of White-crowned Sparrows seen later. And the barn was full of
their cousins the House Sparrows. While we only had 29 species, the walk
was great as was the company … including the cows, sheep, and pigs!
We particularly thank Andy and Cait for hosting us again to walk their
wonderful farm.
Birds seen and heard (H):
Canada Goose – 12 flying over in a V
Mallard – 6 also flying
Rock Pigeon – 35
Mourning Dove – 1
Great Blue Heron – 1 in the farm pond
Turkey Vulture – 2
Bald Eagle – 1 adult
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 1 seen well in the tree in front of the house
Northern Flicker – 1
Eastern Phoebe – 4
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven (H) – called quite a bit
White-breasted Nuthatch – 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 3 seen well and H
Eastern Bluebird H a few times fly over
American Robin – 5
European Starling – 200, they love cow barns
House Sparrow – 30
American Pipit – H flyover
American Goldfinch – 4
Savannah Sparrow – 50+
Song Sparrow – 10++
Swamp Sparrow – 20+
White-crowned Sparrow – 6 all first year
Lapland Longspur – Immature – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 2
Palm Warbler – 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 6
—
Stan DeOrsey