First Guided Afternoon Bird Walk
The first afternoon bird walk I led this Wednesday was a success! 8 people came out and we birded Centennial Woods from 2 to 4pm. Before we had even reached Centennial, we came across a flock of about a dozen robins in the crabapple trees lining the sidewalk near the windmill. We stopped to watch these for a while as they carefully flew around the trees and tried to tear off pieces of the small red fruits. I kept an eye out for another winter fruit eater, the Cedar Waxwing, but none were found mixed in with the flock.
Once we had made it down to the entrance, we stopped to admire a small flock of about half a dozen Dark-eyed Juncos moving around the edge of the woods. They were foraging in the tall grasses and making high-pitched contact calls until we spooked them walking down the trail into the woods. Not much was seen walking through the first part of Centennial, but a flurry of activity near the large open marshy area let us know that we were close to one of the bird feeders! Several Black-capped Chickadees and a White-breasted Nuthatch were hanging around the feeder, we watched as the chickadees would fly in, grab a single sunflower seed, and fly away to a perch where they could methodically hammer away at the seed until they reached the tasty center. While we were distracted by the activity at the feeder, two circling Red-tailed Hawks snuck up on us, only to start riding thermals directly above our heads for our viewing pleasure. We watched as they circled for a few minutes until both tucked in their wings and left the thermal to search for another one.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, until we came across the second feeder on our way out of the woods. There was also a lot of chickadee activity here, as well as some more White-breasted Nuthatches and a few Tufted Titmice as well. The star of the show at the second feeder however was a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers that put on quite a show for everyone in the group. They seemed almost fearless, flying around within a few feet of the group, allowing us to get a good look at the bright red patch on the back of the males head, as well as some of the field marks that can be used to differentiate between Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers. This second bird-rich area was a great ending to this Centennial trip and a great chance for the group to practice bird ID. I'm looking forward to next weeks trip!
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