On Saturday, April 4th, 13 of us went out to Blandy Experimental Farm, the Virginia’s State Arboretum in Boyce. Most of us were pretty well bundled up since it was a little chilly as we started up the morning and the wind was still whipping around.
As we walked along the paths and boardwalk, we spotted 42 species of birds with Cedar Waxwings putting on the biggest show as a large flock swirled back and forth from a tree down to a small pond to drink. We also had great looks at a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that watched us (no doubt for awhile) as we were birding. We finally looked up into the big pine tree where it was perched and it patiently sat as we “oooed and ahhhed” at it and mused over its migration.
Here’s a list of the species we encountered on this great spring morning: Canada Goose, Mallard, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin, and American Goldfinch.
We also had a falcon that zipped by so quickly that none of us got a good enough look to identify it but it gave some sparrows quite a scare.