David Smith and Deb Weston, left, lead the Quarry Farm’s Spring Migration Hike on Saturday early morning.
Photo thanks to Anne Coburn-Griffis, Pandora
PANDORA — Visitors identified 44 types of birds and one brand-new types at the Quarry Farm’s Spring Migration Bird Hike on Saturday early morning.
Anne Coburn-Griffis, a volunteer at the farm, said the walking that David Smith and Deb Weston led was very important for informing individuals about the significance of nature and how bird migration works.
“We have a lot of different types of habitats,” Coburn-Griffis said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is how many birds migrate through this area in the spring and how important that migration in areas that aren’t treated or areas of freshwater where they can rest is. One of the things that Deb was telling people today was just how many miles the birds travel in migration and what they need in a place where they can rest before they move on, so it’s pretty exciting when people come out to check things out.”
Coburn-Griffis said the group of about 6 individuals plus the leaders determined a Mourning Warbler for the very first time in the county.
That is a huge deal for an occasion that has actually been held at the Quarry Farm for many years.
“These birds are only here for a few weeks in the spring and the fall, coming back and forth to Mexico and Canada,” Weston said. “They stop here for a bit and then make it to Lake Erie and then figure out where to go after that.”
Coburn-Griffis included, “People don’t think of Putnam County in regards to diversity of wildlife, and it’s not something people look for, but we’re in a good position in terms of there not being a lot of native and diverse plants or butterflies or birds documented here, but it’s exciting when people can do that,” Coburn-Griffis said.
Weston said there are lots of opportunities for individuals to get associated with bird-watching or any other nature activities at the Quarry Farm.
“We have a migration hike every spring, but we also have a sparrow hike later in the summer, and then we do the Backyard Bird Count in February,” she said. “And there is a 5K and a Family Day later in the year.”
For anybody who wishes to get associated with birdwatching by themselves, Weston said the only thing they actually require is a set of field glasses and a desire to identify the birds.
But if they wish to take it more seriously, ebird.org is the ideal location to start. You can likewise keep up to date on whatever going on at the Quarry Farm by checking out the thequarryfarm.org.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
