The Best Laid Plans ....

Wyncote/DVOC Field Trip, Saturday, April 24, 2010

Twelve people (or, make that eighteen - see below) took part in the Wyncote Audubon Society / Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) field trip on Saturday, April 24 at Fort Washington State Park, PA. It was a beautiful sunny day. Temperatures ranged from 40F when we started out to 65F when we finished up.

It's still early spring, and in this part of the world, eastern Pennsylvania, very few migrants have made an appearance so far.

We (that, is, most of us -- again, see below) began the field trip at the Flourtown Day Use area on West Mill Road in Flourtown. We met in the parking lot, and heard Chipping Sparrow as soon as we got out of the cars. We made our way toward the pavilion, where, in past years, Eastern Phoebes have nested. Not so this year for reasons unknown to us. We walked a short loop around the park, past Wissahickon Creek and past the houses that border the park. No House Wren today -- funny -- I heard one there yesterday. We saw Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, and assorted woodpeckers. Song Sparrows, Carolina Wrens and Northern Cardinals accompanied us all the way around.

We walked past the wetland, which is not wet at all now. It's a "wetlands mitigation area" -- when PennDot made improvements to Route 309 some wetlands were destroyed. By law, PennDot (any wetlands destroyer) must create wetlands in other locations. (According to people who should know, 80% of these "mitigations" fail. But that's the subject of another Blog.)

We went across the field to the path that leads to the wooden bridge (the "poor man's canopy walk"). As we made our way past the big backyards, with chickens, huge gardens and honeybee installations, we saw Red-bellied Woodpeckers at a nest hole, and got a close look at Northern Flickers copulating. Our presence didn't appear to disturb the birds. Bert Filemyr got pictures. (This has been a very good area for woodpeckers this spring: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, as well as the red-bellies and flickers.) From the bridge we heard and saw Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Cedar Waxwings and White-throated Sparrows. An Osprey flew overhead, quite close. Yesterday I'd had Belted Kingfisher at this same spot, but not today.

When we had completed our rounds of that part of the park, we formed a car caravan and set out for the Militia Hill section of the park, about 10 minutes away. We heard and saw Yellow-rumped Warblers (our only warblers for the day) from the parking lot. We saw Red-tailed and Sharp-shinned hawks, as well as Black Vulture and three Red-tailed Hawks, as we made our way up Ridge Road. On our loop around this part of the park we saw and heard many more White-throated Sparrows, and got a great look at a teed-up Eastern Towhee.

Some of the participants were experienced birders, others were new at it, and everyone pitched in to help the new people get on the birds. It was a very nice morning.

But here's the "best laid plans" part: When I got home I had an email from a friend who said she and six others met at Militia Hill at 8:00 AM to join the field trip. As it turns out, the DVOC website had different information from the Wyncote website. My mistake, I'm pretty sure. At any rate, they saw pretty much the same species that we saw, with the addition of a Brown Thrasher at the feeders.

We'll get it all sorted out for the autumn field trip to Militia Hill -- or will it be to the Flourtown Day Use Area?? Be sure to check the website(s). Or, better yet, phone or email me!