tripreport11604

Field Trip Report for Saturday, November 6th, 2004 (Give A Hoot, Don't Pollute)

left to right: Jaime McEvoy, Dick Hurren ready to bag trash; Dick, Jack, Stephen and Dave pose by the side of the road; the entire cleanup gang poses afterwards.

A group of twelve individuals made quick work of picking up trash along the Richmond highway on Saturday, Nov. 6th.
With orange vests on and bags in hand we picked up the rest of the trash that we did not get the last time out.
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who showed up and helped out. We were able to finish up the last stretch of road within a half hour.

Most of us then went on to the Richmond Sewage Lagoons, to check out what birds were out on the water. With noses plugged,
we saw many different waterfowl including Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Redhead, Eared Grebe and a lone Northern Shoveler .

On to Clarkston we trekked to check out the Blue Jays that have been hanging out for about a month. At the side of Tom Gordon's
house we waited patiently for the Blue Jays to arrive and were surprised to see a beautiful Stellers Jay come swooping in to the
feeders. We also spotted Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee and Pine Siskin at the feeders. We then drove up the
road about a block west and saw a Blue Jay fly right in front of us. We stopped and got out and were able to see the Blue Jay
fly back and forth from one tree to the next. High above us, Jack Greene made out the call of a flock of about 20 Red Crossbills that we
witnessed land in the tops of the Pine trees. We watched them pick apart the cones, getting great looks at their crossed bills.
–Stephen Peterson 11-9-04

Complete Trip Bird List:
Black-capped Chickadee
European Starling
American Kestrel
Black-billed Magpie
Mallard
Ring-billed Gull
Red-tailed Hawk
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Lesser Scaup
Eared Grebe
Redhead
Northern Harrier
Northern Shoveler
Killdeer
Dark-eyed Junco
House Sparrow
Red Crossbill
Stellers Jay
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Blue Jay
Northern Flicker
Common Raven
Pine Siskin

left to right: Jack Greene looking intently for the Blue Jays; Dick Hurren catching the oncoming Stellers Jay; Jack Greene and Bill Masslich watch the feeder activity in Clarkston.