Marshlands Marsh Wrens and More

(From sdakotabirds.com. Great site with good photos.)

Today I took trip over to the Marshlands Conservancy, a nature center not far from my house. When I got there I learned that it was the day of the Summer Bird Counts for the area, so I ended up tallying species and individuals I saw on the walk. The Marshlands Conservancy, as I have probably said before, has a variety of habitats. I started off at the field, and quickly found a female orchard oriole, sharp-shinned hawk, and an indigo bunting. By the time I got to the water, I had seen ~10 buntings.

At the marsh, my target birds were marsh wrens and sharp-tailed sparrows. I missed on the sparrows, but as soon as I got near the reeds, I heard the unique song of the marsh wrens. I had never seen them before, only heard them, but this time I found them. There were a few, and they were right on the side of the trail, giving close, if reed-obscured, views. I counted 5 total, most or all singing. Also, a ruby throated hummingbird buzzed by over the marsh.

On the way back, I found more buntings and a nesting red-eyed vireo. It was a pretty good collection of birds for a short walk, with 31 species. This brought my marshlands list up to 77 and my year list to 189. 2 NYS birds (marsh wren, hummer), and one year bird (marsh wren) were seen.

The list:

Gray Catbird

Hairy Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

American Robin

Orchard Oriole

Tree Swallow

Indigo Bunting

Common Gracke

Mourning Dove

Barn Swallow

Sharp-Shinned Hawk

Wild Turkey

Blue Jay

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Cardinal

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Marsh Wren

Northern Flicker

Mallard

Mute Swan

Song Sparrow

Canada Goose

Red-Winged Blackbird

European Starling

Brown-Headed Cowbird

Killdeer

Osprey

Red-Eyed Vireo

Turkey Vulture

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Good Birding,

Corbett