Hot week! 80 to 92F, 27-33C

One hot day this week, Lynn and I thought we could escape the heat by staying in the shade of the woods. All well and good, we were out of the sun, but there was no way to escape the mosquitoes that almost devoured us alive! We opted for the shade of parking lot trees instead, surrounded by sunshine and asphalt.


Mock Strawberry, Duchesnea indica, Rose family (Rosaceae)

In the woods, the Wood Thrush sang again, and the strawberry in the photo above caught our eye. I learned that it's not our native wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) but a flavorless invader from India!

Out in the open we found the Indigo Bunting singing again, and Red-eyed Vireos chasing each other from tree to tree - singing too. In the heat of summer, sometimes the vireos are the only birds singing.

Okay, on to our bird list for the week of June 6 to 10, 2011.

Wild Turkey
Killdeer - or a clever Mockingbird?
Since I mention clever Mockingbirds, I have to add that at one point we thought we heard a mockingbird imitating the sound of a weed-whacker starting up. It called three times, then nothing. Three times is very typical of mockingbirds. A few days later I returned with a recorder and captured the sound, this time it went on for a bit, and was more insect-like than bird-like. Click here to listen to the weed-whacker cicada. Oops, coming soon.

Red-tailed Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle halcyon
Lynn heard the kingfisher calling - we'll count it as bird number 119 for West Campus!
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker

Willow Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
American Crow
Blue Jay
Wood Thrush
American Robin


Eggshell fragments of the American Robin, Turdus migratorius. The female carries the eggshell away from the nest and either drops it or consumes it.

Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Cedar Waxwing
Barn Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
European Starling

Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
Carolina Wren

Indigo Bunting
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow

Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow

Thirty-seven species for the week - that's summer for you -we birders are too hot and lazy to put out much effort, and the birds are busy feeding young and not singing as much.

Hey, have a good weekend - and steer clear of tornadoes!
ciao - Sue