April 22, 2006 [LINK]

Birding on Earth Day 2006

It was raining for most of the day, but it was Earth Day, so I decided it was high time to do some outdoor cleanup. I picked up some trash and a few dozen beer bottles strewn around the bushes at Montgomery Hall Park in Staunton, and then took a short walk in search of birds. Warblers are still scarce, but I did see four neotropical species for the first time this season, plus a nice variety of other birds:

• Yellow-rumped warblers (M, F)
• Purple finches (F)
• Hermit thrush
• Red-bellied woodpeckers (M, F)
• Downy woodpeckers (M, F)
• Pileated woodpeckers
• Brown thrashers (loud!)
• White-breasted nuthatches
• Blue-headed vireos
• Ruby-crowned kinglets
• Great crested flycatcher (FOS)
• Blue-gray gnatcatchers (FOS)
• Ruby-throated hummingbird (M) (FOS)
• Indigo bunting (M) (FOS: earliest ever!)