One never knows what Mother Nature will have in store for us in May, so how nice that she smiled this morning for our nature walk at Alpine Groves. It was a glorious 60 degrees and there was a tang in the air that invigorated. The sun was shining, and dappling along the pathways through the trees.
Alas, however, not one single person showed up for the nature walk! What a shame. They really missed a perfect morning for being out of doors in the crisp fresh air. No other birders showed up, but there were mothers with babies in strollers, and dog walkers, and other folks taking advantage of the excellent day.
As a birding day the count was light, but would undoubtedly have been higher if I was better at birding by ear, or getting better glimpses of little feathered creatures flitting high up in the canopy. Birding is often about "the one that got away" and by sight or by ear I'm sure I missed at least 4-6 additional species. If only someone else had been with me to help...
But I did have good sights like the spotted sandpiper, a first for me at Alpine Groves. And I could not have asked for a better day to be there. However it was also a quiet day, with no raptors soaring overhead, no wading birds dotting the shores of the river.
Audubon Magazine recently featured an article on people now chasing dragonflies and damselflies as many of us chase birds. To be honest - bugs are not my thing! Give me the feathered friends every day. But if you are one of the dragonfly hunters here's one you can try to ID for us.
In the meantime, this is the list of birds I saw or heard this morning:
Spotted Sandpiper
Royal Tern
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Northern Parula
Pine Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
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