April 4/19 Bird Walk at Red Rocks Park

I began my bird walk around 1:15 pm on Thursday, April 19th. Although it was around 43 degrees Fahrenheit, snow began to fall at the end of my walk. I started my walk by walking towards a large puddle where I heard frogs peeping, and noticed a lot of birds hanging around the puddle, searching for insects. This was a younger part of the forest, with a lot of large snags. I saw a Northern Cardinal on a log above the puddle, trying to catch insects. I watched for a while, then continued on. Across the walking path I heard birds calling to each other, and recognized them to be Ovenbirds, a species new to me. I wasn't ever able to see them because they were too high in the trees, so I walked on. I walked all along edge habitat, but the woods were made up of mostly mature tree stands with a lot of large snags. I saw a lot of Hairy Woodpeckers that were foraging on trees, fairly close to me. I also saw a lot of Black-capped Chickadees who were very close to me, and didn't seem bothered by me approaching them at all. I was next to some cliffs, and noticed a very small, round bird foraging with the Black-capped Chickadees on a northern white-cedar tree, and got home to identify it as a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. There was definitely a lot of activity, even at this time of the day, and I'm sure as more birds migrate back to Red Rocks, it'll be one of the best birding spots around Burlington.

Posted on April 19, 2018 07:44 PM by apbray