NEWSLETTERS ~ CURRENT NEWS ~ BUTTERFLY COUNT ~ CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT ~ NATIVE PLANTS & PRAIRIE ~ VOLUNTEER
6th Annual BIG Birding Day - Saturday, May 13, 2023
It was a great day for birding!
May 13 was Global Bird Migration Day and to celebrate teams of birders around the world went out to see how many species they could find in a single day. ZVAS birders were out in force at local parks, wetlands and reservoirs. We found 143 species - including 23 species of warbler and one hybrid Lawrence's Warbler! That's a new record for a ZVAS BIG Day.
Everyone has a personal favorite - but the warblers were definitely a big hit. It's not often we see so many in one day. Other great finds included Veery, Dowitcher, Osprey, Green Heron, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, Woodcock, Semi-palmated Plover, Common Loons and many more.
Conditions weren't great for photography with overcast skies and light rain at times - but we did our best and the birds didn't mind the weather. If anything they were more active, feeding and mostly ignoring us birders.
We especially want to thank our experts Mike Degerstrom and Jerry Pruett for leading the walks today. There were many other experienced birders along as well and everyone contributed to the total. Lance Vrieze found several birds that our bigger groups did not and we're very happy about that! Here's our species list for 2023:
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Northern Shoveler
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Mallard
Redhead
Ring-necked duck
Lesser Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Pied Bill Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora Rail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Semi-palmated plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Killdeer
Dowitcher species (waiting for positive ID)
American Woodcock
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Bank Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked thrush
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Northern waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid)
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Photos by Sandy Hokanson unless marked otherwise
It was a great day for birding!
May 13 was Global Bird Migration Day and to celebrate teams of birders around the world went out to see how many species they could find in a single day. ZVAS birders were out in force at local parks, wetlands and reservoirs. We found 143 species - including 23 species of warbler and one hybrid Lawrence's Warbler! That's a new record for a ZVAS BIG Day.
Everyone has a personal favorite - but the warblers were definitely a big hit. It's not often we see so many in one day. Other great finds included Veery, Dowitcher, Osprey, Green Heron, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, Woodcock, Semi-palmated Plover, Common Loons and many more.
Conditions weren't great for photography with overcast skies and light rain at times - but we did our best and the birds didn't mind the weather. If anything they were more active, feeding and mostly ignoring us birders.
We especially want to thank our experts Mike Degerstrom and Jerry Pruett for leading the walks today. There were many other experienced birders along as well and everyone contributed to the total. Lance Vrieze found several birds that our bigger groups did not and we're very happy about that! Here's our species list for 2023:
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Northern Shoveler
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Mallard
Redhead
Ring-necked duck
Lesser Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Pied Bill Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora Rail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Semi-palmated plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Killdeer
Dowitcher species (waiting for positive ID)
American Woodcock
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Bank Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked thrush
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Northern waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid)
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Photos by Sandy Hokanson unless marked otherwise