Even though winter still has a strong grasp on the area a few early
spring birds have been showing up around Castlewood SP,
-A very non
displaying woodcock has been hanging out along the small spring fed brook behind
the office.(The water is always open and produces a little micro-clime that
keeps the soil near the bank soft so the woodcock is able to feed)
-a
hermit thrush has been in the same area from time to time
-fish crows
showing up
-rusty blackbirds showing up in numbers.Have had them at my feeder starting
this week
-great horned owls nesting near me.No doubt has either killed
or chased off the barred that lived in my back yard
-One a different
note.One usually doesn't think of Castlewood as a gull hotspot but for years
there has been a sizable gull roost over at the Simpson Gravel dredging lake
just east of the park.
Numbers range from several dozen to 200 -300
hundred birds.I would say about 150 to 200 birds have been around since
Jan,
Their here because of the West County landfill nearby
Have never seen anything odd,vast majority are ring-billeds, but
herring gull numbers seem to be higher this year
Mike Brady