The Stroud Preserve, 24 April 2013
/I spent the lion’s share of the day looking for wetland plants. The photo above is part of my reward for that. Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium americanum). This is a new plant for me. It has one of the strangest flowers I have ever seen. I wish my dissecting scope had a photo attachment so I could post a close up photo but instead, here is a link to a webpage with one. I found a handful of these plants along one of the streams that flow through the preserve.
Another benefit to checking wetlands for rare and unusual plants is that you stand a better chance of seeing birds that like these places. I flushed a male Rusty Blackbird from the edge of a oxbow along the Brandywine. It flew up to a nearby tree for a few moments then flew back down to the waters edge. I had the pleasure of watching it forage at close range for about 20 minutes. What a treat!
I saw two new spring arrivals today. A Green Heron flew over the old farm pond and a Blue-headed Vireo was working its way along the foliage by the Brandywine. I observed American Robins and Eastern Phoebe collecting nesting materials. Perhaps the biggest surprise for the day was a finding a nearly completed Blue-gray Gnatcatcher’s nest! Those guys work fast. It has only been 13 days since I saw my first one for the spring.
Start time: 8:45
End time: 12:00
Temp: 42-55°
Wind: 3-8 mph from the south
Skies: overcast, clearing by noon
Species Total: 53
- Green Heron – 1, FOY
- Black Vulture – approximately 10
- Turkey Vulture – approximately 15
- Canada Goose – 13
- Wood Duck – 5
- Mallard – 2
- Red-tailed Hawk – 3, adults
- Mourning Dove – 1
- Belted Kingfisher – 1, heard only
- Red-bellied Woodpecker – approximately 10
- Downy Woodpecker – approximately 10
- Northern Flicker – approximately 12
- Eastern Phoebe – 3
- Blue-headed Vireo – 1, FOY
- Blue Jay – approximately 15
- American Crow – 4
- Fish Crow – 2, heard only
- Tree Swallow – approximately 75
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow – approximately 25
- Barn Swallow – approximately 10
- Carolina Chickadee – approximately 12
- Tufted Titmouse – approximately 8
- White-breasted Nuthatch – 4
- Carolina Wren – approximately 10
- House Wren – 1
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 3
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – approximately 25. I observed a male and female attacking an American Robin that perched to close to their nearly completed nest! I observed the first gnatcatcher just 13 days ago on 11 April. They apparently are not wasting any time.
- Eastern Bluebird – approximately 15
- American Robin – approximately 20
- Northern Mockingbird – 2
- Brown Thrasher – 1, heard only
- European Starling – approximately 10
- Yellow Warbler – approximately 12
- Yellow-rumped Warbler – approximately 20
- Palm Warbler – approximately 8
- Common Yellowthroat – approximately 15
- Eastern Towhee – approximately 25
- Chipping Sparrow – 1
- Field Sparrow – approximately 20
- Savannah Sparrow – 9
- Song Sparrow – approximately 20
- Swamp Sparrow – 2
- White-throated Sparrow – approximately 40
- Dark-eyed Junco – 3
- Northern Cardinal – approximately 10
- Red-winged Blackbird – approximately 50
- Eastern Meadowlark – 1, singing at the corner of Creek and Strasberg Road.
- Rusty Blackbird – 1, male. I flushed it from a wooded wet land while looking for aquatic plants. It returned to the ground where I had the pleasure of watching it forage at close range for about 20 minutes.
- Common Grackle – 4
- Brown-headed Cowbird – approximately 12
- House Finch – 2, heard only
- American Goldfinch – approximately 20