Field Report: International Migratory Bird Day at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, May 11, 2013

On May 11 we celebrated International Migratory Bird Day with a walk and bird-a-thon at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. A late night storm on Friday night probably benefitted us by forcing a lot of migrants down. Overall we counted 65 species including 11 warbler species and a gray-cheeked thrush. We also had good numbers for scarlet tanager and Baltimore oriole. Rose-breasted grosbeak and indigo bunting were also on hand to provide brilliant displays of color. Our complete list as submitted to eBird follows:


Canada Goose  3
Wood Duck  3
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Blue Heron  2
Green Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  3
Cooper's Hawk  2
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Rock Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  6
Chimney Swift  8
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Belted Kingfisher  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  5
Downy Woodpecker  3
Northern Flicker  4
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Eastern Phoebe  3
Great Crested Flycatcher  4
Eastern Kingbird  1
Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  6
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Tree Swallow  17
Barn Swallow  4
Carolina Chickadee  6
Tufted Titmouse  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  4
House Wren  5
Carolina Wren  4
Eastern Bluebird  6
Veery  1
Gray-cheeked Thrush  1
Wood Thrush  8
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  15
European Starling  3
Cedar Waxwing  1
Ovenbird  4
Black-and-white Warbler  3
Common Yellowthroat  12
American Redstart  1
Northern Parula  7
Magnolia Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  1
Chestnut-sided Warbler  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler  4
Yellow-rumped Warbler  12
Black-throated Green Warbler  6
Eastern Towhee  5
Chipping Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  2
White-throated Sparrow  3
Scarlet Tanager  6
Northern Cardinal  6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  3
Indigo Bunting  3
Red-winged Blackbird  6
Common Grackle  5
Brown-headed Cowbird  7
Baltimore Oriole  12
House Finch  7
American Goldfinch  7

The International Migratory Bird Day Bird-a-thon is becoming an annual event for us and it's a great way to raise money for the chapter and introduce new people to birding. The 65 species we counted this year beat last year's 62. But we missed some typical birds such as black vulture, red-tailed hawk, mallard duck(!), and orchard oriole. Here's hoping that next year we can reach 70 species!