Sunday, September 8, 2019

Seven Years and Lots of Birds!


Hello!~~

For the past seven years, Dan and I have birded our wonderful neighborhoods of Raymondale and Holmes Run Acres and the surrounding woodlands: Luria Park, Providence Rec Center woods, and Fairview Park. These places have given us great views of over 100 different birds. Some are year round residents, some are summer or winter residents, and a great number are migratory birds passing through pausing long enough to take advantage of the green spaces, ponds and streams in and surrounding our neighborhoods. 

(Black-throated Blue Warbler (13 May, near Providence Rec, Center)

We have photographed and recorded the birds we have seen over seven years. Our photos of the local birds number in the hundreds to a thousand. We feel truly blessed to have so many birds residing or visiting our parklands/woods that only requires us to walk less than two miles to experience it from end to end.

(Brown Creeper, 21 March, in Luria Park woods)

Each outing during spring and fall migration season gives us heightened expectation to add yet another bird to the list posted below.  It is an incredible gift that our little parcel of green inside the Beltway is attractive to over 100 diverse bird species. 

(Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 3 May, Luria Park)

These green spaces are so valuable to birds. By a wide margin the greatest threat to birds, especially migratory birds, is habitat loss. Imagine you are a tiny warbler migrating northward in spring along the US east coast, the Atlantic flyway, and you look down and see rooftops, asphalt and concrete. You desperately need a rest, an insect buffet, and a drink of water. Then you see tree tops and the sun or full moon glinting off of a trickling stream or small pond. That is as welcome to a tired migratory songbird as a "Vacancy" sign is to a weary interstate traveler. Luria Park along Holmes Run to the Fairview Park ponds offers that critical respite to many a migratory bird along the Atlantic coast super migration highway.

(Spotted Sandpiper, 13 May, Fairview Park small pond)

 We encourage you to get out there with binoculars and see what is hiding in plan sight in our woods and backyards. Here is a checklist of what we've seen to get you started. And you may very well, and we hope you do, find one that is not on this list that we've taken seven years to compile. Let us know and happy birding!~~Dan and Beth Fedorko

(Red-winged Blackbird, 13 May, Fairview Park small pond)

 Checklist of Birds Observed in Raymondale, Holmes Run Acres, Luria Park, Providence Rec Center woods, and Fairview Park:
 
WOODPECKERS:
___Downy Woodpecker
___Hairy Woodpecker
___Red-bellied Woodpecker
___Red-headed Woodpecker
___Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
___Pileated Woodpecker
___Northern Flicker
RAPTORS:
___Merlin
___Mississippi Kite
___Red-shouldered Hawk
___Red-tailed Hawk
___Cooper’s Hawk
___American Kestral
___Barred Owl
___Black Vulture
___Turkey Vulture
___Bald Eagle
WATERFOWL, FISHERS, AND WADERS:
___Mallard
___Wood Duck
___Great Blue Heron
___Green Heron
___Double-crested Cormorant
___Yellow-crowned Night Heron
___Black-crowned Night Heron
___Spotted Sandpiper
___Canada Goose
___Belted Kingfisher
WARBLERS AND THE LIKE:
___Black-throated Green Warbler
___Black and White Warbler
___Blackpoll Warbler
___Yellow-rumped Warbler
___Canada Warbler
___Prairie Warbler
___Yellow Warbler
___Black-throated Blue Warbler
___Blue-winged Warbler
___Cape May Warbler
___Common Yellowthroat
___White-eyed Vireo
___Red-eyed Vireo
___Blue-headed Vireo
___American Redstart
___Magnolia Warbler
___Pine Warbler
___Northern Parula
___Palm Warbler
___Blackburnian Warbler
___Bay-breasted Warbler
___Yellow-breasted Chat
JAYS AND THEIR KIN:
___Blue Jay
___American Crow
___Common Grackle
___European Starling
___Red-winged Blackbird
___Rusty Blackbird
___Northern Mockingbird
___Brown-headed Cowbird
___Gray Catbird
THRUSHES AND FOWL:
___American Robin
___Hermit Thrush
___Louisiana Waterthrush
___Northern Waterthrush
___Veery
___Brown Thrasher
___Wild Turkey
___Swainsons Thrush
___Wood Thrush
___Ovenbird
FINCHES AND GROSBEAKS:
___Northern Cardinal
___American Goldfinch
___Blue Grosbeak
___Rose-breasted Grosbeak
___Purple Finch
___House Finch
___Tufted Titmouse
___Cedar Waxwing
___Pine Siskin
SONG BIRDS AND INSECT EATERS:
___Carolina Chickadee
___Mourning Dove
___Carolina Wren
___Winter Wren
___House Wren
___White-breasted Nuthatch
___Red-breasted Nuthatch
___Eastern Bluebird
___Tree Swallow
___Eastern Phoebe
___Dark-eyed Junco
___Brown Creeper
___Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
___Ruby-crowned Kinglet
___Golden-crowned Kinglet
___Great Crested Flycatcher
___Eastern Wood-pewee
___Chimney Swift
___Scarlet Tanager
___Indigo Bunting
___Baltimore Oriole
___Yellow-billed Cuckoo
SPARROWS:
___Swamp Sparrow
___Field Sparrow
___Song Sparrow
___House Sparrow
___Chipping Sparrow
HUMMINGBIRD:
___Ruby-throated Hummingbird