The Stroud Preserve, 21 December 2012
/When I woke up this morning I got a message on my iPhone from my weather app that said that there were flood warnings for West Chester. What? I knew that it rained last night but it didn’t seem that bad. When I got the Stroud Preserve I saw that the Brandywine had indeed left its banks! Also for the first time in any of my visits the water was flowing over the road just to the west of the bridge. The only other time that I knew that the water flowed over the road was after hurricane Sandy, but I didn’t see it, only it’s aftermath.
Today was a slow day as far as birds went, only 25 species and pretty low numbers. Today was notable in that it was my 81st visit in 2012, and the first one where I did not see a Carolina Wren. There are only four species left that I have seen on every visit, Downy Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatch. Carolina Wren now joins the ranks with Blue Jay, American Crow, European Starling, and Northern Cardinal.