April 19, 2007 [LINK / comment]

Tree sparrow, Brown thrasher

Having some free time at last, I took a walk behind the Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad for the first time in a while this morning, and was amazed by the number of Ruby-crowned kinglets that were around. At least two of them were males with their "ruby" crowns in full display for mating season. I also saw two birds for the first time this season:

• American tree sparrow (FOS)
• Brown thrasher (FOS)
• Ruby-crowned kinglets (M, F)
• Blue-headed vireos
• Cedar waxwings
• Mallards (M, F)
• Phoebe
• Towhee
• Goldfinches (bright yellow now!)

Loon, etc. on Bell's Lane

Thanks to an e-mail alert from John Spahr, I got to see a Common Loon in full breeding plumage on Bell's Lane late this afternoon. But wait, there's more!

• Common loon (FOS)
• Hooded (?) merganser (F)
• Ruddy ducks (M, F)
• Lesser scaups
• Horned grebe (prob.)
• Coots
• Tree swallows
• Barn swallows
• Sharp-shinned hawks (2)
• Killdeer