Ross Harris led our October 18th walk at Colonel Samuel Smith Park. It was an unseasonably warm day with a southwest wind. It was great weather for a walk in the park, but not for bird migration. The walk started very slowly, leading to speculation if our species count would even reach double digits. Eventually, we found a few small flocks of migrants. Golden-crowned Kinglets were the most plentiful species, with Ruby-crowned Kinglets a close second.

At the north end of “the bowl”, we watched a Merlin trying to get a second foot on the top of a spruce tree. We spent the entire walk in the north part of the park, finding small, mostly quiet flocks of birds. Despite the slow start and missing several expected species, we ended the walk with 24 species: slightly more than the number of participants.

Here is the full list: