The walk was very leisurely, using a bingo bird sheet I created to help guide and focus on the birds that dwell within the park. One may think that because it is winter here in Rhode Island that it may not be a very good time to see birds, however, the reality is quite the contrary. Many bird species, specifically waterfowl make their way down to Rhode Island from further up north to enjoy our more temperate winter! This scenario makes Rhode Island a wonderful place to see species of waterfowl that we won’t see until next winter, including the common merganser. We also spent some time looking for forest bird species such as blue jays, cardinals and the american robin. However, I was able to spot a Sharp Shinned Hawk and point it out to the group which was a wonderful surprise!

Written by Alexa Bracken, intern with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Providence, RI.