On Thursday afternoon, I observed flocks of migrant songbirds working their way through our backyard in northeast Ames. After a few minutes of viewing out in the cool, cloudy conditions, I tallied 23 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 17 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and 12 White-throated Sparrows. Thus, I knew that it would be worthwhile to make a quick trip to nearby River Valley Park to see what else might've arrived during the morning's fallout.
As I stepped around to the driveway, I was excited to see a kettle of Broad-winged Hawks positioned over the neighborhood. While counting through the flock (28 BWHAs total at the time), I picked out a Swainson's Hawk, which amounted to an Ames first for me. As flock members appeared to be centering themselves over the park, I headed in that direction and soon got to see more woodland songbirds down low and raptors up above. Just east of the main bridge at East River Valley Park, I watched wave after wave of Passerines go by during the ~45 minutes before steady rain commenced. -Golden-crowned Kinglet - 4 -Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 70 -Hermit Thrush - 2 -Orange-crowned Warbler - 3 -Yellow-rumped Warbler - 55 -White-throated Sparrow - 25 Although diversity wasn't unusually high, there were clearly sizable numbers of migrants using the park. Many of them were funneling from outlying woodlands into the immediate floodplain forest. And that's the most Ruby-crowned Kinglets I've seen at one spot during spring in Ames; it was more reminiscent of what might be encountered on a big day in fall. Looking upward, I continued to note a variety of raptors along the Skunk River corridor through the park. Most were fairly easy to see as they kept below the low-lying gray clouds. -Osprey - one flying northward directly above the river itself -Sharp-shinned Hawk - an especially small northbound individual -Cooper's Hawk - one that kettled briefly with a subset of the BWHA flock; likely a member of the neighborhood's nesting pair -Broad-winged Hawk - 32; may have been more, but I regarded most of them as repeats from the earlier viewing -Swainson's Hawk - seen earlier and again briefly over the park -Merlin - a female Taiga (F.c. columbarius) chasing Cliff Swallows and ultimately flying eastward Many of the Broad-winged Hawks descended into woods at the park and in adjacent parts of the neighborhood as the rain set in. And because precipitation continued through nightfall, they likely roosted there. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a few in the morning... Good birding, Shane Patterson Ames, Story County --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
