A Bonanza of Birds at Sweet Run State Park

Zebra Swallowtail on a person's shoulder.

Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.
Photo by John Denice

Ten birders joined Mike Sciortino, Kevin and John Denice for the monthly bird walk on June 28 at Sweet Run State Park. We had a great start to the walk. There were so many birds to see, it took us 30 minutes just to get to the pond near the parking lot. We saw Orchard Orioles, Eastern Pewee, Eastern Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings and more. When we got to the pond, we scared two Wood Ducks and got a great look at a Green Heron. We went through the field to take the Farmstead loop counter-clockwise and had nice looks at more birds including Yellow-breasted Chats, Field Sparrow, Common Yellow-throats, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Tree and Barn Swallows. Getting into the woods we heard two Yellow-throated Vireos and a Scarlet Tanager, and we saw an Acadian Flycatcher nest.

It got even better when we went along the stream. We had American Redstarts, Northern Parulas, Louisiana Water Thrushes and Wood Thrushes. While we were near the stream a Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly put on a great show landing on at least four people in the group. Then past the stream we got to see, not just hear, a Cerulean Warbler. These guys like the treetops, so getting to look at one for a while was a real treat. Shortly after that we heard a Kentucky Warbler and an Ovenbird. It was a pretty sweet day at Sweet Run State Park.. We had a total of 55 species. For the complete list of birds, see the checklist in eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S254974246.