I made a census today of the breeding birds in the hayfields and the woods
immediately around the abbey and then I went down to look into the vulture nest
which I found in April. I hadn't been down there since April 27th, and today I
saw at least one white downy chick and an adult vulture in the rock crevice.
The adult hissed and turned its back to me, hunkering down so that I couldn't
see its head, all the while the little chick sat there in full view. I have
been told that if the chick is white, it is a Turkey Vulture.
The Bobolinks are still present in our hayfield. I heard the male sing a couple
of days ago, and saw the female this morning.
There was a female Canada Warbler along the river, in the woods near the abbey,
and further down the mountian near the cliff with the vulture nest I saw 2 male
Black-throated Green Warblers which were singing. Cerulean Warblers are all
around now, with at least 12 counted today, as well as tons of Redstarts,
Ovenbirds, Hooded Warblers, and several Kentucky Warblers. I saw a Blue-headed
Vireo carrying food, and found the nest of both the Yellow-throated and the
Red-eyed. Plenty of Pewees and Acadian Flycatchers were about, and a pair of
Phoebes have built 3 nests in a row, each one on a adjacent rafter above the
cloister walk.
In the list that follows, * means a bird was seen carrying food and ** means a
nest was found.
Father John Sebastian
Syon Abbey
Blue Ridge Parkway
Franklin County
54 species
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 8 **
Wild Turkey 2 **
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4*
Downy Woodpecker 7**
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
E. Wood-Pewee 9
Acadian Flycatcher 7
E. Phoebe 6 **
Yellow-thr. Vireo 4 **
Blue-headed Vireo 2*
Red-eyed Vireo 15 **
Blue Jay 6*
American Crow 10
Tree Swallow 4 **
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 8 *
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
E. Bluebird 2 **
Wood Thrush 11
American Robin 6
Starling
Cedar Waxwing 9
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Cerulean Warbler 12
Black-and-White Warbler 7 **
American Redstart 25
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird 28 *
LA Waterthrush 2 (one recently fledged)
Kentucky Warbler 5 *
Hooded Warbler 21 *
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager 8
E. Towhee 18 *
Chipping Sparrow 30 **
Field Sparrow 4 **
Song Sparrow 11 *
N. Cardinal 8
Indigo Bunting 22
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird 20 **
E. Meadowlark 2
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 17
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