Thickson Woods

Last Saturday I went birding with my dad at Thickson Woods. We saw many cars parked beside the conservation area. They were all birders, we got excited thinking they were here because of a rare, recent sighting, but they came because they thought it was a great place to bird. Everyone had the same field guide: A Field Guide to Birds East of the Rockies By: Roger Tory Peterson. First we went to the open field part, there we heard an extremely fast song, I soon recognized as the same bird I saw at my house recently, a House Wren. Also, Tree Swallows filled the area; catching bugs, mating and building nests. The last time I saw Tree Swallows was probably last autumn. Anyway, we walked on to the forest and a group of birders had their binoculars up, pointed at a tree. I looked and saw a small orange figure singing a fimiliar song to a robin. It was a Baltimore Oriole, when the group left an Orchard Oriole came! They have one of the most variable songs, but all birds are unique for something. I soon heard a kinglet in a nearby tree, so I aimed my binoculars and spotted it gleaning insects of branches (common behaviour of kinglets.) The trail lead to another group of birders watching a small thrush, so I came closer and identified it was an Ovenbird. It appeared to be flushed not knowing where to go as it was cornered, not singing just perched on a log. Is this common behaviour of under-leaf scavengers, or was it frightened, submit your ideas in the comment box (below this post.) I walked to the next part of the trail while my dad searched for the Ovenbird. The part of the trail I was now in was filled with warbler songs, they all song at the same time so all I could identify was a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Nashville Warbler. Both very secretive birds always high up in trees. I then met up with dad and we went to the marsh, there we watched a Short-tailed Weasel feed its young, baby rats. Soon other birders came still following the same Baltimore Oriole, but a small brown figure caught my eye in the cattails. I soon recognized the; brown crown, white supercillium (eyeline,) and off white breast from our previous, annual trip to Point Pelee National Park. It was a Marsh Wren and there was also Gadwalls, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds in the background, mixed between a marsh with dead trees and forest-floor-like habitat. This evening I went birding to the same spot with my mom, we parked got and we heard Cooper's Hawks, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Tennessee Warbler and everything on Saturday too. We didn't stay for long because it was getting dark so we left.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown-headed Cowbird

Brown Creeper

American Crow

Mourning Dove

Gadwall (Check for 2009)

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Check for 2009)

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Cooper's Hawk

Blue Jay

Dark-eyed Junco

Killdeer

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Mallard

Baltimore Oriole

Orchard Oriole (Check for 2009)

Ovenbird (Check for 2009)

Feral Pigeon

American Robin

Chipping Sparrow

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

European Starling

Tree Swallow (Check for 2009)

Mute Swan

Nashville Warbler (Check for 2009)

Tennessee Warbler (Check for Life List)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Check for 2009)

Hairy Woodpecker (Check for 2009)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Check for 2009)

House Wren

Marsh Wren (Check for 2009)

Total Number of Birds Seen: 42 species

I will show you prof of some of my sighting tomorrow.