The Eyes of Paint Branch - Fall 2001 Newsletter
Volume: 7 Issue: 2

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Good Hope Bird Walk Yields 43 Species

On May 5, 2001, some twenty lucky birdwatchers accompanied local birder Norm Saunders, a past-president of the Maryland Ornithological Society, on a bird walk sponsored by the Eyes of Paint Branch. Despite overcast skies, 43 different species were seen or heard by participants, who shared tips about how to identify birds by both sight and sound, the different habitats various birds frequent in the Paint Branch watershed, as well as the ways in which the presence of non-native, invasive plant species, deforestation and human efforts to reverse these injuries to the local environment have affected bird populations. Among the highlights of the trip were the sighting and subsequent study through a spotting scope of a Solitary Sandpiper along the shore of a stormwater containment pond; the aerial acrobatics of Barn Swallows and the “flying cigar” - the Chimney Swift; a fly-by of both a Green and a Great Blue Heron; the lush, flutelike song of the Wood Thrush; and the group identification of a Blue Grosbeak sitting in the top of a tall tulip poplar tree.

Species identified on the May bird walk were: Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Canada Goose, Red-shouldered Hawk, Solitary Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Red-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Finch, American Goldfinch, and the European House Sparrow.