Date: March 2, 2003

Time: 4:00-7:00 PM

Forest along Morgan Creek, field overgrown with ashes, willows, and sweetgums, large cattail marsh -- road along the north side of Morgan Creek and the edges of the cattail marsh farther east

Overcast, calm

Highlights -- a pair of American Kestrels, flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds, and just as dark came several American Woodcocks displaying high in the sky at dusk

CICONIIFORMES
Great Blue Heron	2	flying over the cattails
Turkey Vulture	2	soaring
ANSERIFORMES
Canada Goose	2	flying over
Wood Duck	2	flying over
Gadwall	15	flushed in small groups from the cattails
FALCONIFORMES
Red-tailed Hawk	2	perched on power poles and tree tops near the overgrown field
American Kestrel	2	perching on dead snags in the cattail marsh -- male and female
CHARADRIIFORMES
American Woodcock	6	or so -- at least 2 displaying above the overgrown field -- and at least 4 others calling north and south of Morgan Creek
Ring-billed Gull	2	high overhead
PICIFORMES
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1	flew over
Downy Woodpecker	1	heard whinnying
Hairy Woodpecker	1	on dead trees beside the cattails -- we could see the large bill and plain outer rectrices and we heard the rattle
Northern Flicker	1	flew over showing yellow under its wings
PASSERIFORMES
FLYCATCHER FAMILY
Eastern Phoebe	1	with the warbler flock
JAY AND CROW FAMILY
American Crow	4	on campus
CHICKADEE FAMILY
Carolina Chickadee	2
Tufted Titmouse	2	singing on campus
WREN FAMILY
Carolina Wren	4	scattered
MIMIC FAMILY
Northern Mockingbird	2
THRUSH FAMILY
Eastern Bluebird	4	some nasal singing
KINGLET FAMILY
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	in bushes
STARLING FAMILY
European Starling	10	singing raspy nasal phrases from high power lines
WOOD-WARBLER FAMILY
Yellow-rumped Warbler	6	in a flock in treetops along the creek -- including some males in bright spring plumage
AMERICAN BLACKBIRD FAMILY
Red-winged Blackbird	500	in several straggling flocks -- also bright males singing from snags in their territories in the cattails -- all plumages present -- adult and young males and females
Common Grackle	100	in small flocks along the creek and overhead -- sometimes with red-wings
Brown-headed Cowbird	1	female in the midst of red-wings in a treetop
CARDINAL FAMILY
Northern Cardinal	10
SPARROW FAMILY
Rufous-sided Towhee	2	in bushes along the road
Dark-eyed Junco	4
White-throated Sparrow	30	along edges of roads
Swamp Sparrow	6	skulking in wet fields and cattails
Song Sparrow	15	along the edges of the road

NOTES

The American Kestrels seemed to be a pair. Perhaps they will find a cavity in one of the dead trees in the cattail marsh and nest here this year.

The American Woodcocks put on a nice show -- spiralling upward against the overcast sky -- soft trills, then pulsed trills, then their weird video-game calls -- and finally plunging back to earth

Red-winged Blackbirds perched in trees around the cattail marsh -- offering nice views in the late afternoon sunshine.