An Exciting Discovery!

Things have really gotten busy here at the park! Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and bright yellow Goldfinches dominate the feeders! Baltimore Orioles have also arrived, as have Brown Thrashers, Eastern Kingbirds, and a wide variety of warblers. The coolest birds that we've seen so far this year, though, have been a pair of Sandhill Cranes that nested just down the hill from our office. A couple weeks after we discovered their nest, we also discovered two tiny chicks! Sandhill Cranes have only recently begun nesting again in Iowa after a century of extirpation. So, this new nest was pretty exciting!

First Spring Babies

Well, right on schedule, at least three broods of Canada Geese have been observed here at Thorpe Park over the last couple days. Most of the chicks are very small, so they just hatched out this week! I also observed an Indigo Bunting at one of the park's feeders about a week ago, although I haven't seen it since. I'm still awaiting the Grosbeaks, Orioles, and Hummingbirds; they can't be far behind! Surprisingly, we still have Red-Breasted Nuthatches visiting our feeders. These "winter" birds did nest here at the park a couple years ago, instead of returning to their northern breeding range. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll do the same this year!