On Saturday, June 15th, a small group of dedicated birders met at 6:30 a.m. to walk along the West Morris Greenway trail in Chester to look and listen for birds. This area is known to be inhabited by around 70 species of breeding birds. Chester birder Bill Gause led the group on a leisurely two-hour hike, sharing tips for distinguishing bird calls and songs, and identifying birds by sound and behavior.
The birds seen and heard this weekend include:
common yellowthroat, veery, wood pewee, red-eyed vireo, swamp sparrow, red-winged blackbird, yellow-throated vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, mourning dove, wood duck, great blue heron, catbird, cardinal, red-bellied woodpecker, blue jay, crow, Louisiana waterthrush, rufus-sided towhee, Baltimore oriole, blue-gray gnatcatcher, song sparrow, American goldfinch, barn swallow, willow flycatcher.
Other birds reported along this trail in the spring of 2013 include: wood thrush, black and white warbler, redstart, parula warbler, tree swallow, ovenbird, mallard, eastern kingbird, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, magnolia warbler, yellow warbler, house wren, brown-headed cowbird, common grackle, titmouse, and blue-winged warbler.
As spring is the optimum time for observing migratory song birds, the next guided bird hike of this nature will be in May of 2014. See you then!
