Posted by Ted Center on September 17, 2015 at 19:52:35
Twenty-three intrepid birders braved the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes at Birch State Park this past Sunday, with a handful of diehards also visiting Richardson Park afterward. Unfortunately, the pickings were slim with only about 30 species tallied the entire morning. The south end of Birch Park produced only two warbler species, an American Redstart and an Ovenbird along with a few Northern Cardinals. A small flock of White-eyed Parakeets flew over and a Magnificent Frigatebird soared above. As we walked to the north end of the park a “flock” of at least ten migrating Common Nighthawks passed overhead. The fruiting fig near the ranger’s home, as reported earlier, was more productive with Cape May, Prairie, Northern Parula, and Black-and-white Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and a Red-eyed Vireo added to the list. An immature Yellow-crowned Night-heron in the mangroves on the west side seemed unperturbed and remained within a few feet of the group. A Cooper’s Hawk feasting on a Blue Jay greeted us as we left our cars at Richardson Park and a few warblers foraged in the trees along the northern boundary where we added Worm-eating and Black-throated Blue Warblers to our list. An Eastern Wood Pewee was observed hawking insects from the mangroves and an adult Yellow-crowned Night-heron was skulking in the understory. Despite the overall low numbers, we tallied a respectable eight warbler species and had an enjoyable morning with a wonderful group of people.