[birding] Finley northern shrike and Lewis' woodpecker continues

[howard bruner]

The shrike likes the last couple of trees/shrubs on Refuge Road before the south turn (at the sign) into the refuge.  I flushed it going in and several hours later coming out.  

By mid-morning the birdsong had leveled off to a constant cacophony.  It was stump the birder day - I have never heard a song sparrow do repetitious hard clicks similar to a fox sparrow but there is a dandy light song s. at the Woodpecker Loop trailhead doing exactly that.  On the trail a s. towhee gave a looped whistle very like a bh cowbird.  Of course the purple finch were merrily making Cassin's vireo sounds.

The one fox sparrow I saw (along the HC boardwalk) stayed totally silent but did respond by coming in to my splishing.  An oreas anglewing (butterfly) was flying along the boardwalk and I found another on the loop.  Spring azures were flashing deep sky blue in numerous locations as they flitted among the early blooms.  In 2 weeks there will be a major explosion of wildflowers on the loop.  Snakeweed, buttercup, shooting star, sweetroot, cow parsnip, Camissia, trillium, fringecup, and waterleaf are gathering energy for the big show.

A new resident to our area from North Carolina pointed out a group of garter snakes making strange moves and seemingly oblivious to us enough to predict a ball o' snakes in process.

The bald eagle nest at the refuge entry seems to have downy chicks moving around - I will leave it to those with better optics to confirm.  The Lewis' woodpecker is still in the ancient oaks.

H
 		 	   		  
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