Colliers Mills 2/2--Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Now that hunting season is supposedly over--I don't know, I saw a couple of guys with shotguns and a dog walking through the fields--I decided to add Colliers Mills back into the walk rotation. Despite the relatively warm weather the last few days, plus rain last night, most of the water there was still thick, so no ducks, geese, or grebes were to be found.

Sparrows were, not surprisingly, the easiest birds to find. I walked up to an unmowed corner of the fields along Success Road where I'd seen a good number of sparrows on my last visit and there, in the bare thickets bordering the field I found my FOY Savannah Sparrows. I looked without luck for Red-headed Woodpecker. Nothing else of note around in the almost 3 hours it took to walk most of my usual route.

Afterward, I made I quick run through the cattle fields out in New Egypt. I stayed as long as I could stand the smell. Another Savannah Sparrow and a Northern Harrier were the only two birds I'd stop the car for. Alas, no lapwings, no cranes.

The Colliers Mills list:
19 species
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Herring Gull  35     f/o in two flocks
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Downy Woodpecker  2
Blue Jay  15
Carolina Chickadee  10
Tufted Titmouse  5
White-breasted Nuthatch  4     Heard
Carolina Wren  2
Eastern Bluebird  2     Heard
American Robin  30
European Starling  15
Chipping Sparrow  5
Dark-eyed Junco  1
White-throated Sparrow  10
Savannah Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  1     Hawkin Rd
Red-winged Blackbird  5