This update is compiled by John Menge, a Friends of Crex volunteer.  It consists of the wildlife he has observed over the past week...

Bird list August 17-August 22, 2010

Fall songbird migration is beginning and the silence of the mornings is a great contrast to last month. Many of our residents have left and have not been replaced by migrants. Birds are hard to see because of heavy foliage on the trees. Songbirds are moving in small “troops” with chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and several species of warblers. If you can find a “troop” stand and watch for several minutes. It is surprising how many species may be travelling together. Check bottleneck areas or tree islands in the prairies. Shorebirds are present but hard to see because the high water is obscuring the shoreline. Waterfowl and swallows are just starting to flock up. Sandhill Cranes are moving into their fall staging areas in large numbers. Flycatchers are moving through. Olive-sided Flycatchers and Merlin are present.

Pied-billed Grebe(12)

Common Loon (1)

Great-blue Heron (1)

Green-backed Heron (1)

Trumpeter Swan (8)

 Canadian Goose (225)

Mallard (89)

Wood Duck (14

Blue-winged Teal (16)

Ring-necked Duck (1)

 Hooded Merganser (1)

Bald Eagle (1)

Northern Harrier (2)

Red-tailed Hawk (4)

Cooper’s Hawk (1)

Merlin (2)

American Kestral (6)

Black Tern (6)

Ring-necked Pheasant (1)

Wild Turkey (1)

Sandhill Crane (127)

Belted Kingfisher (1)

Solitary Sandpiper (1)

 Great-horned Owl (1)

Mourning Dove (9)

Downy Woodpecker (1)

Pileated Woodpecker (1)

Northern Flicker (10)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)

Tree Swallow (320)

Barn Swallow (62)

Cliff Swallow (1)

Bank Swallow (4)

 Blue Jay (14)

American Crow (23)

American Raven (4)

Black-capped Chickadee (10)

Red-breasted nuthatch (2)

Eastern Bluebird (8)

Robin (1) )

Eastern Phoebe (10)

Eastern Wood Pewee (11)

Olive-sided Flycatcher (2)

Eastern Kingbird (2)

Red-eyed Vireo (2)

Magnolia Warbler (1)

Nashville Warbler (3)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)

Yellowthroat (1)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1)

Scarlet Tanager (1)

Rufus-sided Towhee (2)

American Goldfinch (47)

Red-winged Blackbird (250)

Vesper Sparrow (2)

Song Sparrow (2)

Lark Sparrow (1)

Clay-colored Sparrow (3)

Chipping Sparrow (2)

 Field Sparrow (4)

Animals Pocket Gopher (1)

Gray Squirrel (3)

Red Squirrel (1)

White-tailed Deer (9)