Hey all! Since I live so close, I decided to familiarize myself better with one of the Fall meeting field trip sites that I had only been to once before, Grammer Grove. Back in May I had taken a quick look at Grammer Grove, and was impressed with what little I had seen then, but I was even more impressed after my three hour hike around it today.
It has quite a good length of wide, level, non-weedy trails amongst the forested bottom land along the Iowa River (which is but a relative trickle currently). The trails get a bit of horse traffic, so there is are some horse apples to dodge here and there. It is somewhat thick forest, but the width of the trails makes the foliage less of a hindrance to viewing birds. Here are the highlights of my visit: Pileated Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-headed Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker (heard only) I may have possibly seen a brief flash of a YB Sapsucker, but I didn't get nearly a good enough look to confirm identity. It was a woodpecker with red on its head, which doesn't narrow it down much. Red-tailed Hawk Great view of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk Turkey Vulture American Redstart Red-eyed Vireo Warbling Vireo Indigo Bunting Eastern Towhee Belted Kingfisher Great Blue Heron Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Wood Pewee Spiny Soft-shelled Turtle basking on a log in the Iowa River I also had a fawn cross the path only about twenty feet in front of me as I stood as still as I possibly could. Lots of great birding ahead in Marshalltown! See you in two weeks! Eric Ollie Ames, IA --- 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]
