A brown thrasher perched in a bare maple tree. The bird's mouth is open, singing. Ith has cierous brown head back and tail, a white breast belly and undertail with brown streaks throughout., and a yellow eye.
Two tree swallows perched on top of a nest box. The beards have iridescent blue head, back and wing coverts, black wing and tail feathers, White throat, breast, belly, and undertail coverts.
An eastern bluebird, male, perced on a nest box. It has light blue head wings and tail, orange breast and flanks, and a white belly.
A Red-winged Blackbird perched sideways on a cattail stalk. The bird is black all over except for prominent red wing covets. Its bill is open, singing.

Four people came out for the April wildlife walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland, and the birds seen showed good evidence of spring progressing normally.

A bit of an unusual sighting at the park was a flyover of an Eastern Meadowlark, but since it is a short flight to the the Hurd Grassland and other appropriate habitat, it’s not terribly surprising to see one there. Swamp Sparrows were back singing on their territory alongside the Song Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds which had been back for a month. A Virginia Rail was heard giving its “kiddik calls” and then was seen skulking through the cattails. An Osprey was seen, most likely a local nester, as well as three Double-crested Cormorants which sometimes stop off to feed on the Otter Creek on their way to their breeding grounds.

At the Hurd Grassland we had signs of our habitat working as it is supposed to. Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds were seen visiting nest boxes around the property. A Brown Thrasher was spotted singing from a tree. An Eastern Meadowlark, possibly the same one seen before, was observed in its normal habitat. And also in its habitat in the shrubland, was a Field Sparrow

All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:

Otter View Park

Hurd Grassland

Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.

Our Next walk will take place Saturday, May 11, 7:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.