Cool 60 degrees, rainy, calm winds
On days like this, doing a census can be challenging to say the least. Many birds will sit tight, rarely leaving their perch and keeping their song to minimum, or at least it seems that way. On top of this, you have the “white noise” of the rain drops falling through the foliage, masking the more faint call of birds like the Blue-gray gnatcatcher. It is a “wildlife count”, however, so other animals and plants come into play and keep us busy when the birds are not so obvious. This Eastern box turtle, for example, was a nice addition to today’s count as were several Red efts (beautifully colored orange juveniles of the Eastern newt).
Each year on the first Monday in June, the members of the Palisades Interstate Park League of Naturalists gathers at several locations throughout the park to conduct a wildlife census. Normally, the count actually covers a week’s period of time, but the formal count is on this date……rain or shine. That last part is the killer. In spite of a steady downpour through the entire morning, the count went on as scheduled and at the end of the first 4 hours of the census, there were about 18 naturalists walking through the forest, soaked to the bone.
On days like this, doing a census can be challenging to say the least. Many birds will sit tight, rarely leaving their perch and keeping their song to minimum, or at least it seems that way. On top of this, you have the “white noise” of the rain drops falling through the foliage, masking the more faint call of birds like the Blue-gray gnatcatcher. It is a “wildlife count”, however, so other animals and plants come into play and keep us busy when the birds are not so obvious. This Eastern box turtle, for example, was a nice addition to today’s count as were several Red efts (beautifully colored orange juveniles of the Eastern newt).
A testament to the resiliency of life in the wild was brought light when we found this stately Black walnut tree which had been uprooted in a storm during the past year. In spite of being toppled with its roots exposed to the elements, this tree was hanging on by sending forth new shoots from its side, still reaching for the sunlight of the skies in a desperate attempt to keep going. Ah, if we were all this strong!
As the day wore on, the skies dried a bit although they never became clear. Of note were the number of Cedar waxwings (more than 50), a nice collection of Northern flickers,
and quite a few Blue-winged warblers. A Goshawk, pretty rare for these parts, was found on the slopes of the old Silvermine ski area.
At days end, I think we were all pretty amazed that in spite of the less than ideal conditions, we amasses a total of 99 species, only 3 fewer than we had during last years count under much more favorable skies.
Tomorrow, we will head south to stay at Joe T’s sister’s home as we prepare for our flight tomorrow morning to Missoula, Montana where we will begin our 10 day birding trip through the western third of that most gorgeous state. So, stay tuned for reports with new birds, new mammals, new flowers, all from a new venue beginning on Wednesday.
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