Friday Bird Walk at Patterson Park

Enjoy photos from our bird walk at Patterson Park on Friday, August 14th.  Best birds were three Kestrels!  I was too busy admiring their aerobatics to take pictures unfortunately.

If you've never joined us before - we meet at the fountain at the northwest corner of the park.
 

Susie Creamer (carrying the binocular bag), is the Director of Urban Education and Conservation
 at Patterson Park Audubon

The city gardens had tomatoes and peppers,  plus Mockingbirds, Carolina Wrens, and Robins.

This young Red Maple thought it was fall.  Not so fast!

A line-up of our friendly group of birders.

Not native, but you have to admit they are awfully cute - Muscovy X ducklings.

At Boat Lake looking at the Green Heron.

Green Heron - he stayed in that pose for a long time.  We never did see him catch anything.

A gorgeous  Black and Yellow Garden Spider - Argiope aurantia.
 

Marsh Hibiscus along the boardwalk.

The wetland garden.

Elderberry in the wetland garden.

The cannons are back!

The Mockingbirds were taking full advantage of their return.

Bird list:

Mallard  65
Green Heron  1
Osprey  1
Ring-billed Gull  2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  3
Chimney Swift  18
Belted Kingfisher  2
Northern Flicker  1
American Kestrel  3
Eastern Kingbird  1
Carolina Wren  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
American Robin  15
Gray Catbird  1
Northern Mockingbird  12
European Starling  25
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Common Grackle  3
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
House Finch  8
House Sparrow  3


Thanks everyone for coming out.   See you in September!

Kayaking at Lake Roland

Bird List
2 Canada Goose
2 Wood Duck
1 Double-crested Cormorant
3 Great Blue Heron
1 Green Heron
2 Killdeer
2 Spotted Sandpiper
1 Semipalmated Sandpiper
8 Mourning Dove
8 Chimney Swift

3 Ruby-throated Hummingbird

1 Belted Kingfisher
2 Red-bellied Woodpecker -- Heard
2 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker -- Heard
1 Pileated Woodpecker -- Heard
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee -- Heard
1 Acadian Flycatcher -- Heard
3 Eastern Kingbird
4 Blue Jay
2 American Crow
15 Barn Swallow
X Carolina Chickadee
X Tufted Titmouse
3 Carolina Wren -- Heard
4 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
3 American Robin
4 Gray Catbird
X Northern Cardinal
3 Common Grackle
1 Baltimore Oriole
5 American Goldfinch

Hugh Simmons

Kayaking at Dundee Creek

Master Naturalist Anita Tyler led us through one of her favorite paddling sites at Dundee Creek.  We had a perfect morning on calm waters with like-minded Audubon members.

Beautiful Seashore Mallow

Anita Tyler in her sleek sit-on-top kayak.

It was nice to see a lot of Wild Celery.  This is an important SAV species for its food value for waterfowl.

Pickerelweed blooms from June-October and attracts a wide variety of pollinators like this skipper.  It also provides shelter and food for other types of wildlife.

More Pickerelweed.  Leaves are heart-shaped, and as Anita mentioned, the veins look like they are painted on.

Hi Anita!

An ensemble of Swamp Rose Mallow, Wild Rice, and Pickerelweed.  There was Cardinal Flower and Swamp Milkweed in this grouping also but they didn't make it into the picture.

My only shot of one of the many Ospreys we spotted.

Bird list:

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Forster's Tern
Caspian Tern
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Blue Jay
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackley
Red-winged Blackbird

Ultimate Watersports is located at Dundee Creek and rents kayaks and paddleboards for those of us who don't own a boat yet.  http://www.ultimatewatersports.com/

Thanks all for a fine day.  Hugh Simmons has a BYO Boat event scheduled for next week - I hope you can join him.

Ruth Bergstrom

Beginner Bird Walk at North Point State Park

It's a great time of year to look for Little Blue Herons at North Point - both juvenile and adult.  We weren't disappointed - they were quite active.  Some were in the "patchy" stage.  Enjoy our pictures from this morning.

How many Little Blues do you see?

The end of a HUGE snake

View of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Bird list:

Mallard  2
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Great Blue Heron  3
Great Egret  3
Little Blue Heron  10  
Osprey  1
Bald Eagle  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Forster's Tern  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  2
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  1
Cedar Waxwing  1
Common Yellowthroat  1
Northern Cardinal  1
Indigo Bunting  1
Red-winged Blackbird  6
Common Grackle  2
American Goldfinch  2

Bird Walk at Gunpowder Falls - Sweet Air

Sunday, July 19

Here is the bird list from this morning. Always a nice walk through this part of the Gunpowder albeit a bit warm this morning.

 2 Chimney Swift
3 Red-bellied Woodpecker
4 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
4 Eastern Wood-Pewee
3 Acadian Flycatcher
1 Eastern Kingbird
3 White-eyed Vireo
2 Red-eyed Vireo
10 Blue Jay
5 American Crow
2 Common Grackle
1 Purple Martin
2 Tree Swallow
X Carolina Chickadee
X Tufted Titmouse
2 Carolina Wren
4 Wood Thrush
20 American Robin
6 Gray Catbird
1 Northern Mockingbird
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Eastern Towhee
X Northern Cardinal
5 Indigo Bunting
2 House Finch
6 American Goldfinch

Hugh Simmons



Photos by Deb S

Patterson Park Friday Bird Walk

A perfect day to look for summer residents at Patterson Park.  Chimney Swifts are still foraging overhead and it seemed like there was a Mockingbird at every turn.  Enjoy some photos from the walk.

Many Eastern Kingbirds were fluttering about the trees.

View of the Boat Lake

If you attend our walk in August, this Marsh Hibiscus will be in full bloom!

One of the Muscovy Ducks with ducklings

Another Muscovy Hybrid with one cute look-alike offspring.

And some more ducklings - this time from the local Mallards.

Black-crowned Night Heron by the pollinator garden

Catbird in the elderberry

Eastern Kingbird

American Goldfinch on sunflower

Complete bird list:

Mallard  24
Great Blue Heron  1
Green Heron  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Black Vulture  1
Herring Gull  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  3
Mourning Dove  6
Chimney Swift  8
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  3
Eastern Kingbird  4
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  4
Barn Swallow  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
House Wren  2
Carolina Wren  1
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  9
European Starling  25
Northern Cardinal  3
Red-winged Blackbird  8
Common Grackle  5
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  3


The next bird walk at Patterson Park will be Saturday, July 25th, and the next Friday walk on August 14th.  Please email ppaudubon@gmail.com if you need to borrow binoculars.  See you there!