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15 April 2024
Twelve of us gathered in yesterday’s excellent climate for an outing in Schenley Park.
Once I introduced the outing, I stated we had likelihood of seeing yellow-bellied sapsuckers and certainly we did — at the very least 4 plus an fascinating interplay between a female and male.
Was this pair migrating collectively? Birds of the World says Unlikely. Male yellow-bellied sapsuckers migrate first, the females observe later. When the males attain the breeding grounds they drum and squeal to determine territory and entice a mate. There was no drumming and squealing in Schenley (they don’t breed right here) however the two birds adopted one another from tree to tree. Considered one of them appeared aggravated. Was the opposite “stealing” sap from his/her holes?
There have been loads of holes to select from. The sapsuckers redrilled outdated rings on shagbark hickories and made new rings on tuliptrees.
We additionally noticed nest constructing amongst blue jays (a pair) and red-winged blackbirds (simply the feminine) …
… and a pair of red-tailed hawks incubating eggs in final yr’s profitable nest underneath the bridge.
There aren’t many wildflowers in Schenley Park due to ample hungry deer however we noticed just a few foamflowers (Tiarella sp) in an inaccessible spot.
Are you able to see the flying honeybees and honeycombs on this photograph? The hive is so excessive up (20-30 ft) that we wouldn’t have seen it if we hadn’t been searching for birds.
In all, we noticed 33 species and many breeding habits. Our final sighting was a shock: two bald eagles, an grownup and an immature, circling northward in Junction Hole. I questioned if one of many Hays eagles was escorting an immature intruder away from the Hays nest.
See our guidelines under and on-line at https://ebird.org/guidelines/S168641182
Schenley Park, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 14, 2024, 8:30 AM – 10:45 AM, 33 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 4
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1 Immature
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 2 One grownup & one immature flying/hovering up Junction Hole.
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) 1
Purple-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 4 Drilling and sipping sap, particularly on bushes with effectively established sapsucker rings on bark.
Purple-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 2
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 4
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 6
Japanese Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 7 Two jays carrying nesting materials to similar nest space.
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 1 Heard
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 5
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 4
Northern Tough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 2
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) 2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 4
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 5
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 6
Home Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 5
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 3
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 1
Darkish-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 4
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) X Heard
Track Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 5
Purple-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 9 Feminine constructing a nest.
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 3
Widespread Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 3
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 6
(all pictures by Charity Kheshgi apart from the people-photo by Kate St. John)
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