Birding at Beaty Landing!

[PGBird]

Thursday, July 13, 2009

Seven of us had a lovely morning at Beaty Landing yesterday. The
overcast skies broke up as we walked the loop trail and humidity was
back down to tolerable levels. And we were pleased to see a wood
handrail has been installed along the edge of the hill down into the
valley!! Although the birds are quieter and the leaves bigger, we had
a total of 32 species for the morning. An indigo bunting greeted us
from the tip of a dead limb at the bottom of the hill -- since he also
bid us farewell at the end from the same spot as we left, I assume
that is his favorite singing spot! The blackberries and wild cherries
are ripening providing lots of fruit for the plentiful Baltimore
orioles (all decked in their subtle end-of-summer colors) and cedar
waxwings with fledglings. In addition to all the usual suspects, we
enjoyed seeing yellow warblers, blue-gray gnatcatchers, quite a few
flickers and catbirds, a kingfisher on the river, and a ruby-throated
hummingbird. Several of the species were heard only, so if you decide
to go check out the area on your own in the coming week, be sure to
study the variable calls of the Carolina wren and the white-eyed
vireo. One of the participants had seen a blue-wing warbler there
earlier in the week, but we didn't find that bird. The wingstem is in
bloom (tall plant with winged stems and small yellow composite
flowers), the joe-pye is just starting to bloom, and we found a yellow-
flowered moth mullein in bloom (it's more commonly white).

The next couple Bird Walks will be 8/29 at 8 a.m. at Penitentiary Glen
and 9/16 at 8 a.m. at Chagrin River Park. Hope to see you then!

Mary Huey
Interpretive Naturalist
Lake Metroparks
mh...@lakemetroparks.com