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This week in Washago Posted on April 13, 2019 at 10:40:30 AM by John Challis
I've been too busy this week to post anything until now, so here's a roundup of the birds that have begun to return to the area.
This morning there are about 25 or 30 Ring-necked Ducks in the little marshy bay across the road from us, mixed in with Mallards.
A Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (3 locations), flicker, and Hairy Woodpecker have all been making their presence known either with drumming or calls.
We've had about 15 Common Redpolls in with the Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos and Chickadees around the feeders. There's been a hatch of a small midge-like fly that may be supplementing seed diet. I think the finch crowds must be coming back from wherever they were south of us.
An American Woodcock has been in our front yard a couple of evenings this week. It hasn't been doing the courtship flight yet, but if the evening's mild tonight I'll be out listening.
No Spring Peepers yet either.
The Great-horned Owls were calling again Wednesday night.
Only a few Song Sparrows around, but their songs have been busy.
Kestrels on the highway and some backroad hydro lines.
The Merlins are back being their noisy selves.
McArthur Sideroad is an excellent site for field and meadow species, and the Eastern Meadowlarks have begun to appear. I counted about 6 calling, and one pair of males were in a bit of a contest chasing each other around for prime territory. A Wilson's Snipe was calling but not seen.
Eastern Phoebes have been showing up since last Saturday.
That's it for the newbies, I think. The jays have been very busy around us, too.
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