Swan Point Cemetery, Providence RI May 5, 2011 10-11am partly cloudy

- Saw year bird: Scarlet Tanager male and female on the road next to the woods.

- Saw year bird: male Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the trees near where we saw the Swainsons Thrush.

- Year bird male Indigo Bunting in the woods.

- RI yearbird Ovenbird also in the woods.

- Many sightings of Great Horned Owls (2?).

- Baltimore Orioles, Wood Thrushes, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, Blue Jays and Common Grackles were the most numerous species.

- Not half as many White-throated Sparrows as last time.

- Might have seen the Lincolns Sparrow but it could have been a Song Sparrow.

- There were two Cedar Waxwings near the Hummingbird.

- Many crows and jays mobbing the owl(s?). The owl(s?) were very active and I spotted them quite often hidden up in the trees. They our one of my favorite bird species.

- I got some nice photos of the owl(s?) and the male hummingbird!

- I first saw the(?) owl take off from a branch near the ivy coated section near where we saw the hummingbird.

Full list of birds:
Wild Turkey (female. She had a beard which is not very common on female Wild Turkeys)
Mourning Dove (1)
Great-horned Owl (2?)
American Crow
Blue Jay (abundant)
Black-capped Chickadee (1 working on a nesting hole in the woods)
Tufted Titmouse
Wood Thrush (abundant)
American Robin (abundant)
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing (2)
Northern Parula (2 seen but I think I could here more in the woods)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (abundant)
Black-throated Green Warbler (heard?)
Black-and-white Warbler (1?)
Ovenbird (1)
Common Yellowthroat (1, in the ivy covered bushes by where we saw the Hummingbird)
Chipping Sparrow (abundant)
Song Sparrow (2?)
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal (2?)
Indigo Bunting (2?)
Common Grackle (abundant)
Baltimore Oriole (very common most of them were by the pond)
and American Goldfinch (2? heard).

A Marvelous 30 Seconds

We had been checking the tree for a few days finally on the third day we saw it!

There was a pair of Great Horned Owls being seen quite reliably at Swan Point Cemetery (the famed Rhode Island Spring migration oasis). Most of the sightings of them were in a small pine tree in the woods which we had visited twice already hoping for the owl/owls but we had no luck on either occasion. We did find pellets one of which appeared to contain a Screech Owl (or some other small raptor talon) and white wash (a name for owl droppings).

Finally our luck changed.

We parked near the water and walked down the path in direction of the pine tree. As we neared it a large shadowy form took off from the pine and vanished into the forest. We went after it but it in the woods. We walked on in hopes of seeing it again. Then somewhere up ahead we heard the first caw of a crow which was quickly joined by another and then another. Seconds later there were a dozen black crows madly cawing. We sped up. Then a Red-tailed Hawk shrieked and out of a tree came two big forms pursued by the marauding American Crows! One was a Red-tailed Hawk the other was was a Great-horned Owl! The owls wings were rounded, its belly was striped with black and gold which faded into the white throat. They soared over head and just as quickly were gone. We walked back happily back to the car. On the way back we passed the Red-tailed Hawk, which had been mobbed by the crows along with the owl, and the successful mob of crows returned noisily to where ever they call home.

It was a GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!