Field Trip Report – May 2012
Hawthorn Orchard/ Cornell Lab of Ornithology, May 6, 2012.
With all of the e-mails about the Hawthorn Orchard warbler sightings, it was not a surprise to see as many birders as we did birds. With the orchard being as thick as it is, you would see a flash of color or a movement only to find out, it was another birding group and not the Northern Parula you just heard. After a short while our strategy was to stay put and let the birds come to you.
We saw and/or heard the following at the orchard:
Mocking bird, Turkey Vulture, Starling, White-crowned Sparrow (H), Catbird, Meadow Lark, Grackle, Blue Heron, Northern Cardinal, Robin, Red-bellied Woodpecker (H), Mourning Dove, Barn Swallow, Common Yellow Throat (H), Northern Parula, Crow, Blue Jay, Canada Geese, Tit Mouse, Chickadee, Gold Finch, Black Throated Green Warbler (H), Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, White Throated Sparrow (H), Blue-winged Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Red Start (H), Black-throated Blue Warbler (H), Baltimore Oriole, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow, and a Kestrel hawking in the field.
After a quick lunch at Burger King and enjoying a few comical Mocking birds we headed over to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology:
Here we saw many of the same birds, even the ones we heard at the orchard, but included these additions:
Tree Swallow, Yellow Warbler, Downey Woodpecker, Least Fly Catcher, Red-tail Hawk, Flicker, Ovenbird, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Phoebe, House Wren, and Mallards.
We made a brief stop at Shindagan Hollow State Forest on the way back to see the millions of trilliums in bloom. We saw a few of the same warblers and picked up a Yellow Throated Vireo.
Not a bad day of birding with many quality looks. The area we birded was only a small portion of the orchard and just the trail around the pond at the lab.
Dan Dunn
Broome County Naturalists’ Club Field Trip Chairperson.
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