Ludlow Reservoir Morning Walk

On this sunny day with temps near 60 degrees, ten participants gathered to enjoy a very casual walk on a flat, paved road along a very beautiful body of water.  The weather was very cooperative, since it was neither too cold when we started in the morning nor too warm when we finished about 4 hours later.  Many birds were singing, so we were able to identify them just by their song.  A few people had Merlin on their cell phone and were able to verify a bird first by its song and then by site.  This trip is scheduled early in migration so, depending on conditions, we can get many early warbler arrivals or very few.  This year we only had 5 warblers, a low count for the trip.  Many participants had a few first-of-year birds, which are always a delight to see.  We saw many of the regulars along the path as we walked a little over 2 miles and gathered a total of 35 species.  Everybody seemed to have a good time, which is most important of all.  

Bird Highlights include two Broad-winged Hawks that were having a tete-a-tete with a Red-tailed Hawk.  This is the first time we have had Broadwings on this trip.  Also special were the sightings of two Common Loons and the five warbler species, Ovenbird and Pine, Palm, Yellow-rumped and Black-and-white Warblers.