Recap for Late Afternoon Bird Walk at the DuPont Environmental Education Center/Russell W. Peterson Refuge
November 17,2024
by Joe Francis
If some field trips are huge banquets with endless courses and many guests, this one was instead an intimate meal with close friends and a slowly savored, curated menu.
Fittingly, the main course was “good eating” (Latin: Euphagus) – Rusty Blackbird (E. carolinus), which afforded the small group of 5 determined birders satisfying looks as the birds foraged in the moist vernal pool at the entrance to the Mill Creek trail system. Bald Eagle and a variety of newly arrived waterfowl were additional treats. Dessert consisted of an evening chorus of Swamp Sparrow in numbers more typical for early than later autumn.
A satisfying meal overall demonstrating the pleasures of slow birding.
Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S202855442