24 April 2022

Thirteen of us came out for a walk in Schenley Park on Sunday morning and were thrilled to hear a wood thrush singing near the Visitors Center. The bird was hard to spot in the treetops but CJ Showers got a photo of him from below.

Two First of Year species had just returned: yellow warbler and gray catbird. Male red-winged blackbirds claimed territory and chased females at Panther Hollow Lake, while two spotted sandpipers sidestepped bullfrogs among the reeds.

The red-tailed hawk family on the bridge appears to have babies in the nest, though we could not see them.

And a surprise awaited us around the bend.

Sara Showers saw the profile of this fledgling eastern screech owl perched at eye level on a hackberry branch. Though he wasn’t hidden he was doing his best to look like part of the tree until we gawked at him. That made him raise his ear tufts and look at us through slit eyes.

See our entire checklist at https://ebird.org/checklist/S107910492 and listed below.

Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, PA, Apr 24, 2022 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM. 30 species
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  4
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)  2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  2
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  1 — Flyover
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  2
Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)  1 — fledgling!
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  4
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  7
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  3
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)  1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  2
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  1    First of year
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  20
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  4
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  9
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  8
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  3
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  1    First of year
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  8
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  6

If you attended the outing and would like me to share the list to you, please leave a comment to tell me so.

(photos by Charity Kheshgi and CJ Showers)

UPDATE 25 APRIL 2022: On Monday morning I took the same walk as on Sunday and found that bird activity was more subdued. Many of the birds we saw on Sunday must have left on Sunday night’s strong south wind, including all but one of the ruby-crowned kinglets. However, I found an eastern screech-owl nest near where we saw the fledgling on Sunday. His sibling was looking out of the hole! (It’s a lousy cellphone photo but you get the idea.)