New Friends, New Post, New Bird!

 On Friday, May 3rd, Yale affiliated folks joined an official West Campus Bird Walk led by Peabody Museum and colleagues in conjunction with Yale West Campus Administration's program, Belonging Plan. Around 20 individuals gathered at the conference center and after quick introductions by the birding team, we set out across campus, winding our way to the West Campus Barn.

Making our way through the common areas and parking lots, we tallied many year-round residents on campus before making it to the nature trails and our first migrants.   Black-throated Green Warbler and Northern Parula (warbler) were singing from the tree tops.  As we moved along the trail, one of the Black-throated Greens came down low and close enough to give many participants very nice looks. 

Black-throated Green Warbler (photo credit: Cody Limber)

Heading closer to the barn, we experienced a nice push of lower canopy dwellers.  These are birds that usually nest within 15 feet of the ground, including Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, and Swamp Sparrow.  Tom Parlapiano of the Peabody had the entire group stop and just listen at one point, trying to count how many different birds they could hear singing all at once.  Almost everyone could hear about 10 different bird species and multiple individuals. 

Birding along the trail (photo credit: Lynn Jones)

Once we made it to the barn and had some lovely refreshments, Alex Lin-Moore (Yale Graduate Student, 2023), informed us of a very nice bird.  He had just spotted a White-eye Vireo, a new species for our West Campus list (number 137)!!!  White-eyed Vireos have recently been found in higher numbers throughout the state, with several individuals being spotted, but are a more southern species.  Again this bird was quite vocal and made a number of appearances so that many participants were able to see it. 

White-eyed Vireo (photo credit: Cody Limber)

Thank you to everyone who came out to participate and especially to those who spread their bird knowledge around.  We tallied 39 species for our walk (see species below)!

Trying to spot warblers (photo credit: Tom Parlapiano)

Canada Goose, Mallard, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Herring Gull, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, White-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Gray Catbird, American Robin, House Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, and Northern Cardinal