Photo by John Denice

Nine intrepid birders joined leaders Carol Sottili and John Denice for the monthly Sweet Run State Park bird walk on November 23.  The group included participants who had come all the way from Arlington.  It was fairly cold and windy day, but we did start out with a few birds at the pond.  We heard a Red-shouldered Hawk and saw an Eastern Phoebe, a few American Goldfinches, Eastern Bluebirds, Mourning Doves and Carolina Chickadees.

Crossing the field, we had good looks at more bluebirds, White-throated Sparrows, a Pileated Woodpecker and a Northern Flicker. We walked down to the creek and saw White-breasted Nuthatches, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmice plus an excellent look at two Red-tailed Hawks and a Common Raven.  When we got to the bridge, we heard two Winter Wrens calling back and forth, followed by a sighting of a Golden-crowned Kinglet.  When we were headed to the parking lot, four adult Bald Eagles flew over.  The light was poor, and they were flapping vigorously and flying together, so it took a second for everyone to realize they were Bald Eagles.  We got a better view of them as we rushed out to the parking lot, and they flew south.  That was a great way to end the walk.

The complete list of birds recorded during the walk can be found on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S203355378.

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