FW Kent Park Birdwalk 7/4/18
by Rick Hollis
The Glorious Fourth was miserable hot and humid and I had the group take several short pauses. I was also apparently buggy as everyone else was spraying and swatting.
I woke up very early and got up and hit the road. This got me to Kent P an hour early. So I wandered the area by the CEC — took some photos and listened to some birds. One of the first birds I heard was this Rose-breasted Grosbeak singing from a tree just off the parking lot. Throughout the hour, I wondered if anyone would show, and was a bit surprised when three other folks showed up.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Our hike 1.2 miles, 90’, 4 birders, 26 species (+1 other taxa). If I add in some road birding on the way to Kent P 20’, 2 or 3 miles, solo, 6 species, it gave me 32 species plus one taxa. Green Heron [2], Red-tailed Hawk [1], Red-headed Woodpecker [2], Red-bellied Woodpecker [1], Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) [1], Eastern Wood-Pewee [1], Eastern Phoebe [1], American Crow [1], swallow sp. [1], White-breasted Nuthatch [6], House Wren [5], Eastern Bluebird [1], Wood Thrush [2], American Robin [6], Gray Catbird [4], European Starling [2], Common Yellowthroat [10], American Redstart [2], Field Sparrow [2], Song Sparrow [1], Eastern Towhee [2], Scarlet Tanager [1], Northern Cardinal [1], Rose-breasted Grosbeak [3], Indigo Bunting [2], Brown-headed Cowbird [2], and American Goldfinch [2].
I consider Scarlet Tanager and Wood Thrush to be good birds for Kent P given the size of wooded area.
Note: We meet at Conservation Education Center at 8:00 a.m. on the first and third Wednesday, excluding November thru February. The trips are sponsored by the Iowa City Bird Club and the Friends of Johnson County Conservation. They are free and open to anyone. Join us!
Geometrid larvae
Some eat composite petals
Spiderwort
The insert shows the beaded filaments.
Rattlesnake-master
This plant is in the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae — the plant family that includes carrots and parsley.
Japanese Beetle
This is where they come from,
Widow Skimmer
The dew was heavy.