Contributed by Tristan Semeniuk. Tristan is a member of the Next Generation Naturalists  program.

Many of us enjoy the songs that migrating birds sing in the spring, and there is a large diversity of birds that call Gamble’s Pond at Albert McGowan Park their home. In March, male Red-winged Blackbirds are the first spring birds to appear at the park, along with American Robins who magically pull worms out of the ground. Song sparrows arrive quite early as well, and you can see and hear them calling from the reeds and trees surrounding the pond. Western Meadowlarks are soon to follow with their beautiful songs.

As soon as the ice on the pond thaws, many migrating waterfowl species come in, usually the beginning or middle of March, depending on the year. You can see Mallards and Canada Geese first in the beginning of March, and as the month progresses you can start to see American Wigeons, and eventually Redheads, American Coots, Lesser Scaup, Barrow’s Goldeneye, and Ring-necked Ducks at the end of March. You can also start to see Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, House Sparrows, House Finches, European Starlings, Black-capped Chickadees, Mountain Chickadees, Black-billed Magpies, sometimes Northern Shrikes, Northern Flickers, American Crows, Eurasian Collared-Doves and Killdeer.

Different raptors such as the Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, and Bald Eagle can be seen soaring high up or hunting in the nearby field. Sometimes Bald Eagles are seen dive-bombing ducks for a meal. Come April a few more waterfowl species arrive including Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teals, Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, and Cinnamon Teals. There are a couple more species of blackbirds that start to migrate through as well. These include Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Brewer’s Blackbirds. May is the best month for birding, as many species of warblers start to migrate through, as well as Western Tanagers. The first warbler species that migrate through are Yellow-rumped Warblers, and they are followed by Orange-crowned Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Wilson’s Warbler’s, and many more. There are also two species of rail that live in the cattail reeds that are very elusive, and if you are lucky, you can see both. The Sora and Virginia Rail tend to hide in the thick reeds and don’t come out that often.