Forest Park

A flock of 52 Canada Geese was feeding along the river near the Victorian Footbridge this afternoon. Two of them were distinctly smaller and had noticeably smaller bills than the rest. These two also had darker breasts, and one had a white crescent speckled with black at the base of its neck; the other had a darker line down the breast from the base of the throat. I don’t know whether they were Richardson’s Cackling Geese or Lesser Canadas. I’m leaning towards lesser because they didn’t seem as much smaller than the larger geese as Cackling would be — unless they were larger Richardson’s Cackling!

Easier IDs were to be found on the wooded slope near the Wells/Jefferson intersection: Red-breasted Nuthatch (my first of the season), Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco (around 20), American Goldfinch, and a late-ish Chipping Sparrow.

Partial list:

• Canada Goose
• Lesser Canada Goose or Cackling Goose
• Mallard
• Chickadee
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• Brown Creeper
• Carolina Wren
• European Starling
• Northern Cardinal
• Chipping Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• American Goldfinch

Lakewood Park and Resurrection Cemeteries

Still no Merlin in either cemetery, but there was a nice immature Cooper’s Hawk in Lakewood Park in a tree near the pond (which had some swans in it today).

Partial list:

• Cooper’s Hawk
• Northern Flicker
• American Robin
• European Starling