Greetings Woodsshire neighbors and those who enjoy the sounds of Spring in the wind! Kevin Poague, from Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, visited our park April 8th, to help me inventory the birds we have singing and perhaps nesting in our park. It was a bit of a chilly morning and the grass was wet, but the song was lovely to listen to and we caught sight of several species with binoculars. This is the list of “who” we saw or heard that morning:

Field Sparrow (this was a surprise, they aren’t really urban birds, which shows you that during migration birds can be about anywhere)

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Common Grackle

House Finch (most likely not a purple finch as they are quite rare in town)

American Goldfinch

American Crow

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal

Mourning Dove

American Robin

Eurasian Collared Dove

Downy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Northern  Flicker

Here are some other birds that are likely in your area at this time:

Eastern/Spotted towhee

Black-capped chickadee

Lincoln’s sparrow

Harris’s sparrow

White-crowned sparrow

White-breasted nuthatch

European starling

House sparrow

Carolina wren (not common, but possible)

Cedar waxwing

And then there are the raptors – Eastern screech-owl, Great horned owl, Cooper’s hawk,         Sharp-shinned hawk (in winter)

~~~~~~~~~~               ~~~~~~~~~~~~              ~~~~~~~~~                ~~~~~~~~~          ~~~~~~

If you’re interested in learning more, the Cornell Lab has a great app: Merlin-bird-id-by-cornell for your phone.  The “go-to” book for bird identification and information is The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2014.  AND if you’re interested in creating habitat in your own yard, you might like to read Nature’s Best Hope, A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard,  written by entomologist Douglas Tallamy.

Hope you take time to unplug and enjoy Nature’s music this Spring!