Fort River Refuge Walk

The trip started on a high note as everyone got to see two Black Vultures feeding on some roadkill on Moody Bridge Rd as they drove up to Silvio O. Conte NWR - Fort River Division.  First, we got to see a good number of Barn and Tree Swallows from the parking lot along with a number of the usual species there and a quick fly-in of a Brown Thrasher.  As we headed in, we got our second good find of the day in the form of a male Orchard Oriole.  We continued on the trail and as we reached the western end of the trail, we got a Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Swainson's Thrush.  We then continued along the northern part of the trail, finding two Northern Parula, a Palm Warbler, a Wood Thrush and a Kingfisher flyby.  As we approached the large fields, we had a Ruby-crowned Kinglet calling along with a House Wren and a late Junco.  

We headed back to the parking lot picking up a Swamp Sparrow along the way.  This ended the trip for most though a few of us decided to head up the road to the grass fields as a Bobolink was reported at Fort River that morning.  As we walked to the road, we had an Osprey fly over and as we got up to the fields, we spotted a lone Bobolink which was singing from the top of a tree and then flew off to join another one and when they flushed from another tree, they were a group of three.  We also had a pair of Kestrels which appeared to be staying on or near one of the kestrel boxes.   We had 11 participants, perfect weather and saw a total of 51 species.