Field Ornithology Journal #5

On Friday, May 28th I went to Rock Creek Park in NW DC. The temperature was around 79 degrees, it was partly sunny, and there was no detectable breeze. The park is just one large forest with a small creek running through it that held less than a foot of water. The forest is deciduous, and ranged from dispersed trees and open canopy to a much more dense forest with a closed canopy and thick understory. The birding was ok there; there did not seem to be a ton of diversity were I was, but there was high abundance of the species. The forest has a lot of snags, and I saw three species of woodpecker (Flicker, Downy, and Red-bellied) interacting with the snags. I didn't realize where I am had such a large Acadian Flycatcher population, but they could be seen or heard everywhere I went today. I saw one for the first time which was interesting because I've only heard them! Around the stream I saw Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and American Robins. None were in the stream, but they were on the rocks that bordered it, or flying through the channel it created in the forest. The rest of the species I mostly had to ID by song because the trees were very tall and much of the forest was dense. I heard the usual songbirds like Carolina Wrens, American Goldfinches, as well as Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Eastern Wood-Pewees, and Scarlet Tanagers. I've always had a hard time IDing the Scarlet Tanagers by call, but today I did, and I also saw a male and female which I've never seen before! It's crazy to me that such brilliant species could live in a city. Overall I think that my auditory ID skills improved, but I definitely still need to work on them. Listening comprehension has all been a struggle for me and this class put that to the test! I also saw Carolina Wrens today hopping on the ground and that's another species that I've only heard and never seen!

Posted on May 28, 2021 08:28 PM by iadeslaw