As you know we are a Certified Audubon Cooperative Bird Sanctuary, as part of that program we participate in an annual bird watching day. It used to be called the “Bird Watch Open” and it was done on the same day each year across the United States. This year the name was changed to the “Bird Blitz” and the nice thing that changed is you are given a range of dates to host your event and pick what might be a better suited date for your area when birds might be migrating through or might finally get to your area.
We are very lucky to have a local bird enthusiast and employee, Ben Taylor on our staff. Each year Ben works hard to find people to come out and participate with him. Here in the Des Moines area we are very lucky to have 4 individuals who care and take the time to come out and participate with Ben. They are Pam and Reid Allen, Sharon and Dick Stillwell. They spend hours looking for birds, and also they help educate others such as myself in identifying birds and habitat. This year I was lucky enough to be with them for a short period of time, I brought my binoculars and wished I had brought my camera. I learned a great deal and instead of just seeing birds, I saw many species of birds and I too learned a great deal. My hat is off to these 5 people and the care and interest they exhibit to DMGCC is quite outstanding.
Here is a list of what was seen at DMGCC on May 8, 2010, 59 different species of birds!
Pied-billed Grebe,1
Great Blue Heron,2
Green Heron,1
Canada Goose,15
Mallard,14
Cooper's Hawk,1
Red-tailed Hawk,2
Killdeer,1
Solitary Sandpiper,1
Spotted Sandpiper,1
Rock Pigeon,6
Mourning Dove,18
Belted Kingfisher,1
Red-headed Woodpecker,1
Red-bellied Woodpecker,1
Downy Woodpecker,1
Northern Flicker,1
Least Flycatcher,1
Eastern Kingbird,5
Blue-headed Vireo,1
Warbling Vireo,10
Tree Swallow,50
Northern Rough-winged Swallow,6
Bank Swallow,3
Cliff Swallow,3
Barn Swallow,30
Black-capped Chickadee,3
Blue Jay,12
American Crow,5
White-breasted Nuthatch,1
House Wren,6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,5
Eastern Bluebird,1
Swainson's Thrush,16
American Robin,125
Gray Catbird,3
Brown Thrasher,5
European Starling,6
Cedar Waxwing,24
Tennessee Warbler,4
Cape May Warbler,1
Yellow-rumped Warbler,6
Palm Warbler,2
Northern Waterthrush,1
Common Yellowthroat,3
Northern Cardinal,6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak,1
Chipping Sparrow,75
Savannah Sparrow,2
Song Sparrow,1
Lincoln's Sparrow,3
White-crowned Sparrow,1
Red-winged Blackbird,15
Common Grackle,25
Brown-headed Cowbird,10
Baltimore Oriole,10
House Finch,2
American Goldfinch,15
House Sparrow,1