Stéphane’s Blog for April 19, 2011

An unexpected bird!

Today was still unseasonably cold, even with the sun shining. There wasn’t much activity, except for quite a few Northern Flickers: a flock of more than 15 were seen in the dry grasses of the “Pine Barrens” (although technically not a Barren, this is the common name for the grassland opening in between West and Middle Bluffs).

However, the surprise today came in the form of a small flock of 10 birds flying fast across the sky. They were Bohemian Waxwings! It is a species that is sometimes seen at the very end of the fall season, in the last days of October or very first of November, but it has never been recorded in the spring so far. The waxwings flew almost overhead and close enough that I could see the rusty undertail coverts, a telltale mark! That was nice and exciting!

A cold but happy birder,

Stéphane