Hi all,
For today's Salem Audubon Society's bird walk at Ankeny National Wildlife
Refuge, leaders Fred, Kay and Mike were joined by 6 other birders. The
focus of the field trip was at Pintail Marsh and surrounding marshes. After
scoping Pintail Marsh, we walked west out along the berm to Mohoff and
Mallard Marshes.
Highlights for the day included:
· Solitary Sandpiper seen from the Pintail Marsh parking lot. This was a
first-of-year bird species for many of us.
· A Sora was seen very close to the Pintail Marsh parking lot, as was a
Wilson's Snipe.
· A couple Virginia Rails were heard doing their "grunt" call at Mohoff
Marsh.
· The majority of sandpipers were seen along the berm bordering Mallard
Marsh, including Least and Western Sandpipers, as well as Greater and
Lesser Yellowlegs.
· American Bitterns were seen poking their heads out of the grass at
Pintail and Mallard Marshes.
· A Black Phoebe was seen "hawking" along the berm west of Pintail Marsh
parking lot.
· We had swallows overhead for most of our walk around Pintail Marsh, the
majority of which were Violet-Green Swallows. We also saw several Barn
Swallows and one Cliff Swallow.
· No geese were seen today.
The next Salem Audubon Society bird walk is a short bird walk at
Minto-Brown Island Park, *Thursday, August 24th at 6:00-7:30 pm *led by
Barbara Dolan. The bird walk begins at parking lot #3 (at the end of the
road into the park from River Road).
A complete list of today's birds follows.
Tim Johnson
eBird Checklist Summary for: Aug 22, 2017
Number of Checklists: 3
Number of Taxa: 63
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Ankeny NWR--Eagle Marsh Overlook @ 7:00 AM
(2): Ankeny NWR -- Buena Vista Rd pullout across road from Eagle Marsh @
7:18 AM
(3): Ankeny NWR--Pintail Marsh @ 7:32 AM
2 Wood Duck -- (3)
7 Blue-winged Teal -- (3)
7 Cinnamon Teal -- (3)
1 Gadwall -- (3)
159 Mallard -- (3)
2 Mallard (Domestic type) -- (3)
1 Northern Pintail -- (3)
6 Green-winged Teal -- (3)
4 Hooded Merganser -- (3)
8 Ruddy Duck -- (3)
15 Pied-billed Grebe -- (3)
2 American Bittern -- (3)
4 Great Blue Heron -- (3)
1 Great Egret -- (3)
1 Turkey Vulture -- (3)
1 Osprey -- (3)
4 Northern Harrier -- (3)
1 Cooper's Hawk -- (3)
1 Accipiter sp. -- (3)
1 Red-tailed Hawk -- (3)
2 Virginia Rail -- (3)
1 Sora -- (3)
1 American Coot -- (3)
9 Killdeer -- (3)
6 Least Sandpiper -- (3)
1 Western Sandpiper -- (3)
1 Long-billed Dowitcher -- (3)
1 Wilson's Snipe -- (3)
1 Solitary Sandpiper -- (3)
12 Greater Yellowlegs -- (3)
2 Lesser Yellowlegs -- (3)
2 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (3)
1 Mourning Dove -- (3)
2 Vaux's Swift -- (3)
1 Downy Woodpecker -- (3)
1 Northern Flicker -- (3)
1 American Kestrel -- (1)
1 Western Wood-Pewee -- (3)
1 Black Phoebe -- (3)
1 California Scrub-Jay -- (1)
27 American Crow -- (1),(2),(3)
350 Violet-green Swallow -- (3)
77 Barn Swallow -- (1),(3)
1 Cliff Swallow -- (3)
12 swallow sp. -- (1)
2 Black-capped Chickadee -- (3)
8 Marsh Wren -- (3)
3 Bewick's Wren -- (2),(3)
1 Swainson's Thrush -- (3)
36 European Starling -- (1)
2 Cedar Waxwing -- (3)
2 Orange-crowned Warbler -- (3)
9 Common Yellowthroat -- (3)
1 White-crowned Sparrow -- (3)
22 Savannah Sparrow -- (3)
6 Song Sparrow -- (1),(3)
2 Spotted Towhee -- (3)
2 Black-headed Grosbeak -- (3)
1 Brown-headed Cowbird -- (3)
21 Brewer's Blackbird -- (3)
5 House Finch -- (2),(3)
5 Lesser Goldfinch -- (3)
34 American Goldfinch -- (2),(3)
