Photo by Linda Millington
With special permission, a group of six birders visited the National Beagle Club and Mt. Pleasant Farm on on April 29. The group, led by Linda Millington and Emily Southgate, enjoyed beautiful weather with plenty of birds. There were many highlights: Prairie Warblers and White-eyed Vireos singing from thickets at the Beagle Club; great views of Orchard Orioles at Mt. Pleasant; a Red-headed Woodpecker calling loudly from a stand of trees where we found him high above on a skinny snag; a Brown Thrasher serenading us but playing hard to find in a grove of River Birches; Blue-gray Gnatcatchers hovering like hummingbirds; soaring Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks; Yellow-breasted Chats only giving us the briefest of glimpses; and Brown-headed Cowbirds displaying their bronze heads in the bright sun.
A complete list of birds seen and heard can be viewed on eBird at https://ebird.org/checklist/S108375198 and https://ebird.org/checklist/S108383538.