Howard County Bird Club

A Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society

Centennial Park

Trip leaders: Dave Ziolkowski Date of trip: March 17, 2024
Location: Centennial Park Number attending: 33
Details: Bright sky, nearly 50° F, and a negligible breeze out of the SW. A dry cold front slipped in around 9AM and created winds from the NW of about 10 mph. Thanks to downsloping, the clouds soon dissipated leaving nearly clear skies and winds out of the NW of 5 mph. NOTES: Songbird activity was good at the start but dropped off rapidly when the front came in because of the surface level winds. Activity did pick up a little after the front had passed. Pedestrian traffic was moderate. In addition to birds, we heard a couple of Wood Frogs calling in the large woodland pool above the NE corner of the lake. We also saw at least 15 American Toads in the small shallow pool on the N side of the lake across from the boat house. A few of the males were in amplexus with egg laying females and the remainder were singing and amorously mistaking each other for suitable mates. We also saw a number of Red-eared Sliders and Painted Turtles basking.
Toads in temporary pond (Mary Lou Clark)
Along the trail (Gregg Petersen)
Getting organized (Gregg Petersen)
Getting organized (Gregg Petersen)
Along the trail (Gregg Petersen)

Canada Goose 33
Mallard 2
Hooded Merganser 2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 1
Mourning Dove 7
Ring-billed Gull 4
Great Blue Heron 4
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 11
Osprey 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 4
Barred Owl 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 7
Downy Woodpecker 5
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 6
Eastern Phoebe 5
Blue Jay 13
American Crow 12
Fish Crow 7
Common Raven 1
Carolina Chickadee 11
Tufted Titmouse 6

Tree Swallow 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Winter Wren 1
Carolina Wren 11
European Starling 16
Northern Mockingbird 7
Eastern Bluebird 8
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 57
House Sparrow 4
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 9
Field Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 8
White-throated Sparrow 32
Song Sparrow 7
Eastern Towhee 1
Red-winged Blackbird 11
Brown-headed Cowbird 9
Rusty Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 4
Northern Cardinal 18

American Toad (Guy DiRoma)
American Toads in amplexus (Yi-Ying Lee)
Hermit Thrush (Guy DiRoma)
Field Sparrow (Yi-Ying Lee)