Rock Creek Park Bird Walk
Posted on May 1, 2011
Early birders met up with a variety of colorful and vociferous birds at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Club's spring bird walk on the morning of May 1, 2011.
The morning was cool and cloudy, and the birds seemed content to sit high in the canopy and cheerfully warble in their leafy bowers. This actually worked to our advantage, as once we discovered their perch most of us were able to get decent looks at their spring finery.
Even such notorious flitty birds as the Cape May and Nashville warblers afforded us decent views; not to mention such gaudy specimens as the rose-breasted grosbeak, scarlet tanager, and indigo bunting!
Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and note that there is another bird walk coming up for club members on May 21 and a Smithsonian Associates trip (which we will co-lead) on May 14 and 15 to Chincoteague and Rock Creek Park.
The List
The group found 45 different kinds of birds.
Double-crested Cormorant
Spotted Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Acadian Flycatcher
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
European Starling
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
