A Blue Grosbeak and Red-headed Woodpeckers Among Highlights at Banshee Reeks
Photo by Michael Sciortino
July 10 was a spectacular summer day for a bird walk as the 19 people at our regular monthly bird walk at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve found out. The humidity was low, the temperature was about 70 degrees, and it didn’t get much warmer than that during the walk. Led by Joe Coleman, Mike Sciortino, Mary Ann Good and Michael Myers, the birders split into two groups and covered trails with very little overlap. We found a total of 58 species with the highlights being a male Blue Grosbeak , Red-headed Woodpeckers (seen by both groups), Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Orchard Orioles, both White-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Common Ravens, lots of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, numerous Wood Thrushes singing their beautiful song, Yellow-breasted Chat, Common Yellowthroats (one of which perched on a wire so all of us could enjoy its song and appearance), and very vocal Northern Parulas and Prairie Warblers.
One of the groups, finding 20 species in the parking lot at the beginning walk, joked that they could have simply stayed there and had a great day birding.
For a complete list of all the birds observed at Banshee Reeks, see below or on eBird at https://ebird.org/checklist/S91535784 and https://ebird.org/checklist/S91534048
Group 1 Species List:
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Black Vulture 5
Turkey Vulture 2
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Acadian Flycatcher 4
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 3
Yellow-throated Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
Fish Crow 1
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 6
Tree Swallow 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 2
Eastern Bluebird 6
Wood Thrush 8
American Robin 10
Cedar Waxwing 1
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 5
Chipping Sparrow 4
Field Sparrow 3
Eastern Towhee 2
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Orchard Oriole 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Common Grackle 1
Common Yellowthroat 5
Northern Parula 2
Prairie Warbler 2
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 5
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 6
Group 2 Species List:
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5
Mourning Dove 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 6
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 4
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 7
Acadian Flycatcher 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 7
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 3
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
Barn Swallow 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
Carolina Wren 8
European Starling 1
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
Eastern Bluebird 4
American Robin 2
Cedar Waxwing 2
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 5
Field Sparrow 4
Yellow-breasted Chat 3
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Common Grackle 5
Common Yellowthroat 8
Northern Parula 1
Prairie Warbler 4
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 8
Indigo Bunting 8
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