The Stroud Preserve, 21 December 2012

When I woke up this morning I got a message on my iPhone from my weather app that said that there were flood warnings for West Chester. What? I knew that it rained last night but it didn’t seem that bad. When I got the Stroud Preserve I saw that the Brandywine had indeed left its banks! Also for the first time in any of my visits the water was flowing over the road just to the west of the bridge. The only other time that I knew that the water flowed over the road was after hurricane Sandy, but I didn’t see it, only it’s aftermath.

Today was a slow day as far as birds went, only 25 species and pretty low numbers. Today was notable in that it was my 81^st visit in 2012, and the first one where I did not see a Carolina Wren. There are only four species left that I have seen on every visit, Downy Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatch. Carolina Wren now joins the ranks with Blue Jay, American Crow, European Starling, and Northern Cardinal.

Stat time: 9:00
End time: 11:15
Temp: 50-41 (dropping dramatically! It was in the low 30’s by sunset)
Wind: Brisk from the north
Skies: Overcast
Species Total: 25
 
Black Vulture – 6
Turkey Vulture – approximately 25
Snow Goose – 68, Bird of the Day, always exciting to see a flock of these on the wing.
Canada Goose – approximately 100
Mallard – 12
Red-tailed Hawk – 4
Mourning Dove – approximately 75
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
Downy Woodpecker – 2, heard only
Blue Jay – approximately 12
American Crow – approximately 200
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 20
Tufted Titmouse – approximately 10
White-breasted Nuthatch – 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 2
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 20
American Robin – approximately 12
Northern Mockingbird – 2
European Starling – approximately12
Song Sparrow – approximately 50
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 75
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 12
Northern Cardinal – approximately 10
House Finch – approximately 20
American Goldfinch – approximately 10