Greenstone Hollow Trip Report – Saturday, 9/28/24

Greenstone Hollow Trip Report – Saturday, 9/28/24

We had sixteen birders including 2 non-members and 14 members.  It was a beautiful day – light clouds, no wind and temperature in the 60’s.  We first birded along Ridge Blvd on both sides near the east entrance to the property.  Here we saw Eastern Phoebes, Cedar Waxwings, lots of Bluejays, American Goldfinches and good looks at a Swamp Sparrow.  Tree Swallows were flying overhead and some folks heard a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  At one point, we startled a Great Blue Heron which flew out of the pond. We also saw a Cooper’s Hawk flying away.  Several Carolina Wrens were singing loudly much of the time and some Canada Geese and European Starlings flew overhead. We didn’t see, but clearly heard a Fish Crow.  We also saw several Northern Flickers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers both here and later in the walk.

We then walked west along the two trails that parallel the road on the south side – Wood Thrush Trail and Twisted Tree Trail.  Along the way we had good looks at a Ruby-crowned Kinglet feeding in some cedar trees and saw a flock of American Robins in some of the taller trees.

We stopped at the Butterfly Garden and heard White-throated Sparrows, an Eastern Bluebird and an Eastern Towhee.  We weren’t able to locate the Towhee or Bluebird but saw many more White-throated Sparrows during the rest of the walk.

We continued back down the Old Farm Road seeing many Gray Catbirds and repeats of earlier birds. At one point on the Chickadee Trail, we had good looks at a Northern Flicker and a Red-bellied Woodpecker sitting side-by-side in a tree.  It was a good chance to compare these two somewhat similar looking birds.  Further along the Old Farm Road near the Wood Duck Pond, a hawk suddenly flew over.  As we tried to figure what it was, it banked, and we could see the white rump of a Northern Harrier.  It was surprise as most of us are used to seeing it flying low over a field rather than looking at the underside as it flew overhead.

Returning to our starting point after about 2 hours and 1 mile of walking, all but 5 of the group left.  Those that remained walked the ¾ miles of trails out to the north end of the refuge for about another hour.  We picked up more Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, some White-breasted Nuthatches and an American Crow.

All in all, we enjoyed a very nice day with a fair number of interesting fall birds.

Submitted by Chris Fisher – Trip Leader

Here’s a list of the birds seen and approximate numbers in taxonomic order.

6 –   Canada Goose

1 –   Great Blue Heron

1 –   Northern Harrier

1 –   Cooper’s Hawk

5 –   Red-bellied Woodpecker

6 –   Northern Flicker

4 –   Eastern Phoebe

50 – Blue Jay

1 –   American Crow

1 –   Fish Crow

15 – Black-capped Chickadee

3 –   Tufted Titmouse

21 – Tree Swallow

1 –   Ruby-crowned Kinglet

3 –   White-breasted Nuthatch

5 –   Carolina Wren

7 –   European Starling

25 – Gray Catbird

1 –   Eastern Bluebird

25 – American Robin

40 – Cedar Waxwing

5 –   American Goldfinch

25 – White-throated Sparrow

1 –   Swamp Sparrow

1 –   Eastern Towhee

1 –   Rose-breasted Grosbeak