There were a few new (to me) additions to the Crosby crew of visitors yesterday. Over the river were two turkey vultures; on the river was a pair of hooded mergansers. Along the banks flocks of both golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets appeared, along with the hermit thrushes, and fox and song sparrows. The kingfisher could still be heard across the way, on Pike Island.
The yellow-rumped warbler and E. phoebe were on the north side of the large lake, where a nice hatch of insects were flying about. It was good to see them in the canopy, albeit the lower reaches, instead of relegated to the understory. The bufflehead--6 or 7--were back on the large lake, along with some gulls. So were the tree swallows, but they must have found more to eat; they spent a lot of time just soaking up the sun, lined up side-by side like so many buds on a tree. On the south side of the lake, the brown creepers were in evidence. There were also some very melodious blackbirds, and Kyle's post makes me wish I'd paid closer attention to id them. (Of course it WAS supposed to be an exercise walk, but...) Best of all, I believe I heard a few bars of the winter wren's song, though I couldn't spot one. Since Crosby is where I saw my first winter wren, I can always hope. Linda Whyte
