April 22, 2006 [LINK]
Birding on Earth Day 2006
It was raining for most of the day, but it was Earth Day, so I decided it was high time to do some outdoor cleanup. I picked up some trash and a few dozen beer bottles strewn around the bushes at Montgomery Hall Park in Staunton, and then took a short walk in search of birds. Warblers are still scarce, but I did see four neotropical species for the first time this season, plus a nice variety of other birds:
- Yellow-rumped warblers (M, F)
- Purple finches (F)
- Hermit thrush
- Red-bellied woodpeckers (M, F)
- Downy woodpeckers (M, F)
- Pileated woodpeckers
- Brown thrashers (loud!)
- White-breasted nuthatches
- Blue-headed vireos
- Ruby-crowned kinglets
- Great crested flycatcher (FOS)
- Blue-gray gnatcatchers (FOS)
- Ruby-throated hummingbird (M) (FOS)
- Indigo bunting (M) (FOS: earliest ever!)