Date: April 6, 2003

Time: 7:30-11:30 Daylight Savings Time

Mist-netting in a wet field overgrown with ashes, sweetgums, and multifloral rose.   Line-abreast sweeps through the Scirpus beds in the large plowed field north of Big Oak Woods -- large expanses of Scirpus (black rush) in shallow water and short vegetation on slightly higher ground.

Sunny, calm

Highlights -- White-eyed Vireo mist-netted, American Bittern flushed twice from the wet field, redbuds in full bloom, dogwoods just flowering

PELECANIFORMES
Double-crested Cormorant	1	flying over headed NE (to Falls Lake? or to New England?)
CICONIIFORMES
American Bittern	1	flushed twice from Scirpus beds in the large wet field
Great Blue Heron	4	flying overhead in close formation
Black Vulture	2	soaring low over fields
Turkey Vulture	2	soaring over fields
ANSERIFORMES
Wood Duck	2	flying over
Mallard	1	flying over
FALCONIFORMES
Red-tailed Hawk	2	at least soaring over fields
Red-shouldered Hawk	1	one soaring wing-to-wing with a red-tail overhead while we mist-netted
CHARADRIIFORMES
Common Snipe	8	flushed from the large wet field
STRIGIFORMES
Barred Owl	1	whooped once and later hooted once from gamelands east of MFBR
PICIFORMES
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1	called
PASSERIFORMES
JAY AND CROW FAMILY
Fish Crow	1	flew overhead uttering nasal calls
VIREO FAMILY
Yellow-throated Vireo	1	sang from the eastern edge of Big Oak Woods -- probably just back from Central America
White-eyed Vireo	3	including at least two singing and one caught in a net -- the banded bird later seen nearby might have been the bird just banded or it might have been a bird banded in previous years by BIOL 114
CHICKADEE FAMILY
Carolina Chickadee	2	including one singing
Tufted Titmouse	2	including singing
WREN FAMILY
Carolina Wren	4	including some persistent singing
MIMIC FAMILY
Northern Mockingbird	1	in hedgerow along road
OLD-WORLD WARBLER FAMILY
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	4	uttering their shrill nasal calls -- one male seemed to have a mate already
THRUSH FAMILY
American Robin	4	drifting northward through clumps of trees beside the fields
Eastern Bluebird	2	in field -- spectacular blue on the male's back
WOOD-WARBLER FAMILY
Common Yellowthroat	6	singing males scattered in the fields -- no signs of females yet
AMERICAN BLACKBIRD FAMILY
Eastern Meadowlark	1	flushed from short vegetation in the large field
Common Grackle	4	flying over
Brown-headed Cowbird	4	in tight twisting flight as three males pursued a female uttering her rattle call -- male flight whistle was heard earlier
CARDINAL FAMILY
Northern Cardinal	6	including one male netted -- as usual it tried but could not quite break our skin!
SPARROW FAMILY
Rufous-sided Towhee	4	singing in bushy areas
White-throated Sparrow	30	along edges of roads and in our nets! -- both morphs well represented -- some individuals were in the middle of molting the feathers of their crown stripes
Swamp Sparrow	20	skulking in wet fields -- pumping their tails in flight -- occasionally singing a single song
Song Sparrow	10	along the edges of the road -- no singing

NOTES

A spectacularly beautiful morning for a change!   Hawks soared, birds sang, and enough landed in our nets to give a taste of mist-netting.

The American Bitten, a rarity at Mason Farm, allowed us to watch it in our scopes -- while it adopted its look-like-reeds posture with its neck upstretched and orange eyes fixed on us.

Common Snipe finally put in an appearance for us -- 8 is a good number for Mason Farm -- although it did not match the 30 that Matthew and I flushed just the week before.

OTHER VERTEBRATES

Northern Cricket Frog showed all the signs of this species -- straight-edged stripe on hind leg, heel reaching 1-2 mm beyond the snout, deep webbing on all toes -- one caught but none heard

Eastern Cottontail -- lots!