Delaney Wildlife Mgmt Area

Six Forbush Club members and a seventh soon to become member walked the Delaney Wildlife Management Area for about three hours on a beautiful fall day. One of the highlights of the trip was the bright red, orange and yellow foliage, especially as it was reflected in the water of Delaney Pond. The birds were not especially active, but by the end of our roughly 2 ½ mile walk we managed to identify 29 species of birds.

We got a workout identifying the sparrows in their fall plumage. We can usually see Wood Ducks here, but despite a concerted effort the best we could do was maybe hear one calling in the distance. Before everyone had gathered, the Blue Jays started massing a raptor, and as it flew away the best we could do was say that it had a long tail and was similar in size to the Blue Jay that was following it. I decided to list it as Sharp-Shinned/Cooper’s Hawk, although I favored Sharp-shinned based on the size.

Species: 29

Canada Goose  36
Mute Swan  15
Mallard  8
American Black Duck  10
Killdeer  5
Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  9
American Crow  5
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  9
White-breasted Nuthatch  5
Carolina Wren  3
Eastern Bluebird  6
Hermit Thrush  1
American Robin  3
House Finch  9
American Goldfinch  6
Chipping Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  8
White-throated Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  2
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Rusty Blackbird  10
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2

(Report submitted by David Ammerman)