Red-shouldered Hawk
When I left my house at 9:30 this morning, it was chilly with complete cloud cover, and not a bit of wind. By 11:00, the sky had mostly cleared, and there was a bit of a breeze. And when I ended my hike a little after noon, there was barely a wisp of cloud in the sky, but it was quite windy, and I ended up with 34 avian species. At least 6 or 7 common winter species here in Old Trail were missing from my list. I started off on the trail along the golf course pond, and immediately saw one of our resident, adult, Red-shouldered Hawks. It soon flew closer to the golf course, and not too far from its mate who was perched in a nearby tree. The crows weren't too happy about this, and started to harass the hawk.
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk and American Crow
Red-shouldered Hawk and American Crow
I saw Canada Geese and a Ruddy Duck in the pond, but the Pied-billed Grebe that has been there every day for the past few weeks wasn't seen. By the time I got back to my car, I had my first 11 avian species of the morning.
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
I headed over to the trail along the wetlands and the soccer field. Over the past three weeks, I have seen four Winter Wrens in that area. Two were along the trail near The Lodge, one along the trail near the plateau, and one along the soccer field, but I didn't see any Winter Wrens in that part of Old Trail this morning. Soon after starting on this part of the trail, I got a few photos of four avian species in the same tree: House Finches, Purple Finch, House Sparrow, and Eastern Bluebird.
Four avian species
As I was hiking along the trail above the wetlands, a Cooper's Hawk flew right by me - close to the ground and only a few feet away from me as it passed by, but too quickly for a photo before it was gone. I ended my hike along Slabtown Branch Creek. At the extreme southeast corner of Old Trail, I got my Winter Wren of this morning. I had seen this species in that area in previous winters, but this was the first one I have seen this year at that location.
Dark-eyed Junco
Pine Siskin
Winter Wren
Winter Wren
Winter Wren
This morning's list:
Canada Goose
Ruddy Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Field Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
American Robin
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch