Fort River Refuge Walk

We started the cloudy, cool morning with six participants in the parking lot. The first birds seen were Tree and Barn Swallows, Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, Grackles, Starlings, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Mallard, Bluebird, and the following sparrows: Song, Swamp, Savannah and Field. We walked the 1.2-mile trail and saw five different woodpecker species: Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Northern Flicker.

Also seen were House Wren, Crow, Mourning Dove, Tufted Titmouse, Goldfinch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Catbird, Phoebe, Kingbird, and White-breasted Nuthatch.  Our highlight birds of the morning were Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Screech Owl, just 20 yards away, and Virginia Rail, which was seen from the platform in the parking lot at the end of the walk and when it started to rain!  The warbler count was low, we only saw one Yellow and about nine Yellow-rumped.

All in all, a great walk gathering 38 species before the rain really started!