Date: 15 Jan 2025
Trip Leader: Joe Francis
Five determined, winter-hardy birders braved single-digit wind indices on a bright, sunny, and gusty day. Understandably, birds were quite scarce or hunkered down away from the wind. We had long periods of scant activity (time to practice winter woody plant ID) followed by brief bursts of multi-species flocks making their way quickly through the woods in search of shelter from the wind, water that wasn’t frozen, or food. The early mowing of the grassy fields severely curtailed sparrow counts as well. Nonetheless, total species counts were on par for Alapocas in January, with several delights: a Chipping Sparrow accompanying a flock of Juncos near the river; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the floodplain forest; Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a group of Eastern Bluebirds foraging near the upper trailhead. Finally, as temperatures were warming to the low 30s we spotted a Purple Finch that seemed to be following a large feeding flock of American Robins through the woods. Overall, a satisfying Cardio workout and lesson in winter bird survival strategies.
eBird checklist here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S209397600