Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge Woodland Trail - 2/23

[Steve_Kahl at fws.gov]

I took my weekly walk around Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge's Woodland
Trail Saturday morning (2/23).  It really looked like late winter in Mid
Michigan as evidenced by the low diversity and abundance of birds.  In
fact, my streak of adding at least one bird to my Woodland Trail yearlist
was ended at 7 weeks.  However, the feel of spring was in the air.
Although it was only 8 degrees, the sky was clear and the wind was calm.
Consequently, many birds were singing, especially northern cardinal and
tufted titmouse.  Other singing birds included black-capped chickadee,
white-breasted nuthatch, house finch, mourning dove and a horned lark as it
flew overhead.  I also heard my first singing brown creeper of the year and
woodpeckers seemed to be drumming more.  The complete list I submitted to
eBird included:

Canada Goose     100
Mallard     2
Common Merganser     24
Herring Gull     1
Mourning Dove     17
Red-bellied Woodpecker     7
Downy Woodpecker     8
Hairy Woodpecker     4
Pileated Woodpecker     2
Blue Jay     5
American Crow     16
Horned Lark     6
Black-capped Chickadee     12
Tufted Titmouse     10
White-breasted Nuthatch     12
Brown Creeper     8
American Robin     1
European Starling     44
Cedar Waxwing     2
American Tree Sparrow     1
Northern Cardinal     9
House Finch     4
American Goldfinch     3
House Sparrow     7

Steven Kahl
Refuge Manager
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
6975 Mower Road
Saginaw, MI  48601-9783
P (989) 777-5930 ext 16
F (989) 777-9200
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/shiawassee/