I took a census of the bird life around the abbey this morning, and found a few
more spring arrivals and 66 species in all. Most notable for our location was
an early KENTUCKY WARBLER and a very cooperative VEERY. A few JUNCOS and
WHITE-THR. SPARROWS still linger, and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS are still passing
through in decent numbers, as well as a single FLICKER, and 2 OSPREY, and a
HOUSE WREN.
The woods are brimming to capacity with vireos (YELLOW-THROATED, BLUE-HEADED &
RED-EYED), and overflowing with REDSTARTS, WORM-EATING WARBLERS, OVENBIRDS,
HOODED WARBLERS and SCARLET TANAGERS. Other warblers were: BLACK-THROATED BLUE,
YELLOW-RUMPED (2), BLACK-THROATED GREEN and LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, making 11
warbler species in all. There are now quite a few CERULEAN WARBLERS here, and I
saw one male chasing a female, so they aren't wasting any time. I sat down for
a while in the woods and shortly thereafter a pair of Worm-eating Warblers
approached and foraged among the dead leaves on the ground, almost within
arm-reach. The male stopped a few times a minute to sing, and on a couple of
occasions he fed something (too small to identify) to what I presume was the
female.
A single SOLITARY SANDPIPER was at the lower pond, along with a SWAMP SPARROW,
a pair of WOOD DUCKS and the expecting CANADA GEESE. Almost a dozen RUBY-THR.
HUMMINGBIRDS were zipping around the feeders. Also at the seed buffet today was
a male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK and 4 male INDIGO BUNTINGS.
Father John Sebastian
Syon Abbey
Blue Ridge Parkway
Franklin County
Pied-billed Grebe
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 7
Canada Goose 2
Wood Duck 2
Osprey 2
Red-tailed Hawk
Wild Turkey 7
Solitary Sandpiper
Mourning Dove 4
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-thr. Hummingbird 11
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 2
N. Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker 2
E. Phoebe 6
Yellow-thr. Vireo 7
Blue-headed Vireo 11
Red-eyed Vireo 10
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 11
Tree Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 5
Carolina Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 9
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
E. Bluebird 6
Veery
Wood Thrush 7
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
European Starling 5
Black-thr. Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-thr. Green Warbler
Cerulean Warbler 7
Black-and-White Warbler 8
American Redstart 19
Worm-eating Warbler 11
Ovenbird 22
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Hooded Warbler 21
Scarlet Tanager 8
E. Towhee 21
Chipping Sparrow 26
Field Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 18
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow 5
Junco 7
Cardinal 12
Rose-br. Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting 4
Red-winged Blackbird 21
E. Meadowlark 4
Common Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 42
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