Field Notes: Clinton Lake Birding

Northern Mockingbird. Photo by Nathan Powazki.

By Nathan Powazki, Field Trip Chair

We are almost there! Another long winter, but spring is on the horizon now, and I am sure many are excited to get back to Sunday Morning Bird Walks and do some warblering! I’m sad to say this will be my last Field Notes, as I am leaving the state for a new job, but I was excited to get one last birding field trip in before moving away.

Our trip to Clinton Lake was bitterly cold and interspersed with pop-up white-out snowstorms, but we persevered and were rewarded for it. In the woods we saw a Hermit Thrush, almost 10 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Rough-legged Hawk over the prairie. We visited several stops along the lake and saw many notable birds among the hundreds of Canada, Cackling, and White-fronted Geese. We saw a Snow Goose/ White-fronted Goose hybrid, flocks of Common Goldeneyes, Common and Hooded Mergansers, and many Bald Eagles. A Ruddy Duck even made several brief appearances between long dives under the water. We searched for Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Common Redpolls, which have been frequent to the area this winter, but with no luck.

No field trips are planned yet, but Sunday Morning Bird Walks will be back before we know it!