“I’m out walking the dog,” he said. “And it was so noisy with birds that I turned on Merlin and it detected a Red-breasted Nuthatch. Do you think that’s accurate?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “And I’m so jealous. I think this is the first time you have a bird this year that I don’t.”

Ed is chuffed. We spend a few minutes discussing the changes to the Merlin app in a classic “who moved my cheese” complaint style.

I arrive at Emmerling Park and use one of my favorite bathrooms on the trail. It’s also a noisy morning here and my checklist grows quickly. Goldfinches, Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds and Robins abound. I stop for a moment to admire the male and female Red-Winged Blackbirds. Right now, it seems all the birding ID groups are flooded with people who can’t ID female Red-Winged Blackbirds, female House Sparrows, female anything.

I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone today and I’m walking two segments of the trail, both in the direction I’ve never traveled before. Plus I’m about to tackle a section of the trail that I consider the most unpleasant and most difficult for me. It’s the ledgy portion next to the warehouse parking lot off of Saxonburg Boulevard.

Wildflowers are out now. I recognize White Trillium, Azure Bluets, and violets.

I finished my walk along the creek. There’s no sign of the Blue Heron, no Louisiana Waterthrushes, and no Kingbirds.

There are two hybrid mallards in the creek as I crossed the bridge.

On Eisele Rd., Robins call out everywhere. I had my first Birding club meeting on Friday and the “cheer up” song of the Robin was the first one I introduced to the kids.

Farther up Eisele Road, Chipping Sparrows are the stars of the show. An Eastern Bluebird perches at the top of a tree and sings its heart out.

When I walked along the creek, I saw people fishing, and I made a silent wish that they would clean up all their fishing line. In the distance, I can hear people on quad bikes, tearing up the terrain. I guess everyone can enjoy the outdoor outdoors in different ways I just wish everybody was as careful about it.

Two sets of two people come toward me traveling in the opposite direction, walking and running. I can tell they’re getting ready for the challenge. I wonder what they think when they see me standing still. But we all exchange friendly enthusiastic greetings you just can’t grouchy when you’re on the trail.

My mom calls as I’m making my way down a steep hill. It’s a good distraction. She wants to know how she can tell if she’s seeing a crow or a raven. I make her laugh with my tried and true test: If you see a crow, you say “oh, that’s a nice big bird.” If you see your raven, you say, “WTF is that bird!”

She tells me some health updates that make me worry about my dad. I promise to call later and check on him.

At the bottom of the hill, near a creek lined with sycamores, I hear a bird singing, but Merlin can’t ID it. I can! It’s a Yellow-throated Warbler.

Time to start the trickiest and most unpleasant part of the trail for me.

I did it! I conquered the tricky part of the trail with surprising ease! I couldn’t believe it. I was rewarded when I got to the parking lot with a Turkey vulture and Black vulture. I was able to get some photos.

Then because I was watching the vultures swirl in the sky,I spotted my first of year Osprey.

If you’re willing to give time to the trail, the trail is willing to give birdy gifts back to you.

The creek bottom area is rather quiet. I spy more plants like invasive Garlic mustard, Virginia bluebells, Skunk cabbage, and Trout lilies.

I come across a butterfly that I didn’t think I had seen before. I startled it off the ground, and then I watched and waited for it to settle. It flies round and round. Watching it was like watching a roulette wheel, spinning, and spinning, circling around me, hoping it would land just where I wanted to. Come on big money!!!

It flies away.

I climbed up a steep rocky hill that I usually go down. I arrive at the cornfield, which was quiet. The day is warmed up and more turkey vultures are taking to the skies. I add five more to my tally.

I’m almost done my walk. Another group of hikers pass me. And when I look over the turnpike way down to Cedar Run where Ed and I walked last night, I see even more hikers. I love seeing people on the trail, but it definitely makes my sometimes-very-urgent pitstops way more risky. It’s the price I’ll have to pay.

This was a big tally today! 38 species in about 3 hours!

Checklist 1

RCT - Emmerling to Saxonburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 12, 2026 9:59 AM - 12:37 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.412 kilometer(s)
38 species

Mallard (Domestic type) 2 Photos
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 1
Mourning Dove 1
Killdeer 2
Black Vulture 1 Flying with one turkey vulture, all the classic field marks shorter tail, butler’s gloves; both vultures reappeared together a little further down the trail and I was able to get photos
Turkey Vulture 9
Osprey 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1 Carrying a snake in its beak
Red-bellied Woodpecker 8
Downy Woodpecker 5
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 14
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 6 Still working to improve my chickadee-dee-ID, and was given this helpful guidance: "basically no white on the secondaries... certainly no white on the coverts... likely Carolina"
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 7
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
Eastern Bluebird 1
American Robin 22
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 16
Chipping Sparrow 9
Field Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 1
White-throated Sparrow 7
Song Sparrow 11
Red-winged Blackbird 23
Brown-headed Cowbird 8
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 15

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S320739749

Ed parks his car and I pick him and we see another turkey. We start our walk, and see three more turkeys! A little farther down the road, we see nine turkeys!!! It’s a super turkey evening!!!! 1

“Turkeys look like pilgrims,” Ed posits. “Dark suits. Always walking somewhere.”

“Almost like they are on a . . . pilgrimage,” I suggest.

Ed nods.

We pass the beehive and there’s an overpowering odor of something rotting. It’s extremely unpleasant. I assume it’s a dead animal, but I’m not quite sure where it is.

It’s mostly bird quiet so Ed decides to try and find the “top tree.” It’s whatever tree he thinks is the best tree, based on his parameters.

I think there might a hawk nest in this tree.

There’s a guy driving a lawnmower on the road. It’s inexplicable, but it’s also noisy.

We finish the walk and cross a little stream.

“I’m always disappointed when we cross a stream and there are no waterbirds,” Ed says.

“Yeah,” I agree.

Then, I kid you not, two ducks and a Great Blue Heron fly overhead in the darkening sky.

And that was the end of our walk.

RCT - Wagner to 910, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 11, 2026 6:43 PM - 7:37 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.353 kilometer(s)
22 species

Mallard 2
Wild Turkey 13
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 1
Mourning Dove 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 5
Carolina Chickadee 3
Black-capped Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 9
American Robin 10
White-throated Sparrow 5
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Northern Cardinal 3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S320360140

Today I’m wearing some new gear today permethrin treated socks from L.L. Bean if I don’t have any ticks, they’ve done their job. The beginning of the walk is noisy with a large group of Blue Jays. They’re upset about something. I count eight total jays. Wouldn’t it be exciting if they were upset about an owl? The Blue Jays are whistling over and over again, and they sound like squeaky swings at a playground.

I wait patiently and search the trees all around, but I don’t see any sound signs of an owl. The Blue Jays just seemed like they’re in a rowdy mood. Then I hear a Red-shouldered Hawk call overhead and I suspect that’s what they’re upset about.

I’m walking this trail backward from the way I usually travel and it’s fascinating seeing things that are kind of familiar from a new perspective.

I patiently wait identify two Song Sparrows hiding in some brush, and then I turn and notice a nest being built and a hole pecked in a tree. As I’m looking at the nest, I see a Turkey Vulture swirling in the sky in the distance. There’s activity everywhere I look.

I round a corner on the trail and a Robin explodes up from a crook in a tree right next to my face. I startle, then my eyes focus on her nest. I move several feet away from the nest and stand on a fallen log and snap a picture of her hard work.

I walk along the parking lot next to Hampton Middle and I hear a Crow call nearby. I would love to get a Fish Crow today. There’s a flutter and a flap in the Forsythia bushes next to me a warning check urges me to move along. It’s a Red-winged Blackbird. I continue a short distance and way off to the left I realize I can see the top of the UPMC building in downtown Pittsburgh. As I stand there pondering the hills of Pittsburgh five pure white Rock Pigeons streak overhead. Did someone just have a wedding and release a bunch of doves?

It takes quite a bit of time for both directions of Route 8 to be clear of cars for me to cross, but I’m patient and the time comes. I scoot across the busy road. The woods on the other side of Route 8 looked different than they did in the fall. It looks like someone’s come through and cleaned out a lot of the undergrowth. I’m going to be optimistic and say they’re trying to remove some of the invasive species. I think the privet that’s growing here, but all of the razed plants makes it does look a little like a war zone. I can hear a woodpecker hammering away on a tree in the distance, but I can’t see it. I stand and search for a while. Merlin can often analyze drumming patterns, and suggest what kind of woodpecker to look for. I can even hear when the woodpecker changes trees, but I still can’t see it. Then it gives a convincing call. It’s a Hairy Woodpecker.

Except for that woodpecker, this part of the trail is rather quiet. I do spot a silent Crow perched at the top of a steel leafless tree.

Then I hear a Towhee in the distance and something shuffling of leaves on the ground. I expect to find a male and female Towhee to forging for food, but imagine my delight when I peek through my binoculars and see two ruddy, robust, rotund, red-brown sparrows with gray faces! Fox sparrows! They’re close enough that I almost get a picture, but I startle them and they zip off. In my excitement, I accidentally stop my checklist, so I pause for a moment to restart it and try not to double count the birds I’ve just found in this area.

I hear the rustling in the undergrowth again, and I re-find the Fox Sparrows searching through fallen leaves like they’ve dropped their keys.

Next, I stop to watch two Chickadees feasting on flowers and behind them I hear a quiet song rising to almost impossible octaves it’s a Ruby-crowned Kinglet!

It feels like I’m stopping every few feet now I paused when I finally catch my first glimpse of a Hermit Thrush this year, instead of just hearing it.

Then there’s a Yellow-rumped Warbler in the fir tree above me then I find a Tufted Titmouse trying to get a meal out of an acorn before it’s buddies can steal it.

Four lingering Dark-eyed Juncos scuffle in the leaves.

I was so wrapped up in birding I did miss a narrow turn off, but only by a couple feet. I scurry backwards and return to the correct part of the trail. I’m coming to the cold ravine of Crouse Run.1 I’ve only ever climbed up this hill, not down. It’s steep and twisty, so it will be an adventure.

I’m walking along peacefully planning my next few walks when a Barred Owl breaks the silence and calls out from the far side of the canyon!! That’s a first of year for me!! The rush of adrenaline I get hearing that owl makes it feel like I’m floating along the trail.

I make it down the steep hill quite easily. I cross the creek and arrive at the spot where Nate and I have seen and heard a Great Horned Owl two years in a row. From this side of the creek and with most of the trees still leafless, I think I can see what would make a very good nest for a Great Horned Owl, but I can’t tell if it’s occupied. I suspect it is.2

As I move down the trail closer to the wetland, the sound of the spring peepers becomes almost deafening. I couldn’t hear any birds if they were calling loudly next to me, but I do spy two Mallards taking a break way back in the brush.

I’m almost at the end of this segment when I scare a duck out of a tree. A male Wood Duck flies away. I don’t see the female, perhaps she’s in a nest up high.

I identified 38 species on this walk, but I wasn’t done Birding the Rachel Carson Trail for today!

Checklist 1

RCT Trail - Topnick to Indian spring woods, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 11, 2026 3:38 PM - 4:48 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.249 kilometer(s)
24 species

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 14
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 4
European Starling 2
American Robin 20
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 1
Fox Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 5
Eastern Towhee 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Northern Cardinal 10

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S320290819

Checklist 2

RCT - Crouse to Topnick, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 11, 2026 4:52 PM - 6:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.762 kilometer(s)
32 species

Wood Duck 1
Mallard 2
Mourning Dove 1
Barred Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 4
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 6
Northern Mockingbird 1
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 9
House Sparrow 1
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 3
Dark-eyed Junco 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
Eastern Towhee 2
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 5

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S320326665

I feel a lot of urgency to get as many walks in as quickly as possible. We’re traveling a lot for soccer and I have some medical screenings that will make it tough for me to walk for a few days.12

I’m almost at the end of the train track portion when I hear a crow fussing up ahead. I stare into the woods on my right. Is there an owl? I’m so focused on looking for the owl that I don’t see the dead deer on the train tracks until I’m almost right on top of it. I startle for a moment, then notice two ducks take off from a tree branch. Wood Ducks! I hear a familiar, weety weety weety weoo behind me in the Hemlock Ravine Canyon - my first Louisiana Waterthrust of the year! Incredible! A Pileated Woodpecker flaps across the blue sky above me. It’s a stunning start.

Every time I descend into the Hemlock ravine, I’m reminded that this is an ancient place. Of course every place on earth is as old as every other place, but some just feel differently old.

A half hour and a half mile into my walk and I’m at 18 species so far.

It’s time to tackle the one really technical part of this trail in Hemlock Ravine and I make my way carefully along the narrow ledge. I pause at the last steep descent to take a photo. I’m pretty proud of how confidently I completed this section, especially since this morning, I had to pause as my vision and my balance whirled thanks to my vertigo.

I leave Hemlock ravine and enter the woods in North Park. I’m delighted to find two Red-headed Woodpeckers at the same time that I find two Eastern Bluebirds that puts my species count total at 30.

Then I’m frustrated to discover that at some point, I knocked the eye cup off of my binoculars. This happens more than I like to admit. I have spares at home and it doesn’t really change the way the binoculars work, just their comfort. Also, I hate littering.

I pause to listen to the excited squeaks of some White-breasted Nuthatches and then a little further into the forest, I hear a really loud knocking. I come up two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers pecking away on a dead tree and that gets me my seven woodpecker day!

When I cross Wildwood Road things get noisy. I heard the spit spit of Northern Roughed-wing swallows, the electronic kissing noises of Tree Sparrows and the I rattling chatter of my first of year Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

I am very satisfied with my species count for today and I climb the small hill at the end of the trail. I glance over at North Park Lake and there is a Great Egret perched on a fallen tree at the point!

44 species - highest count so far!!

RCT - Sample to Beaver Shelter, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 8, 2026 9:34 AM - 12:33 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.986 kilometer(s)
44 species

Canada Goose 21
Wood Duck 1
Mourning Dove 2
Ring-billed Gull 1
American Herring Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 7
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 2 As observed in this same location
Red-bellied Woodpecker 11
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 8
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 8
Black-capped Chickadee 7
Tufted Titmouse 10
Tree Swallow 5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 3
Northern Mockingbird 2
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 20
House Sparrow 3
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 6
Chipping Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco 2
White-throated Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 6
Eastern Towhee 4
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Louisiana Waterthrush 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S318789702

It’s a weird spring day. The sun is shining but the “feels like” is 18°. The wind is very cold on my face, but the birds are waiting on the trail. I travel along the boardwalk through the small wetland, hoping to hear a Swamp Sparrow, but I get Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, and two quiet Canada Geese glaring at me.

There are Purple Martin homes waiting for some birds to move it, but I’ve never seen them here.

The last time I walked the wetland, I wore snow shoes and marveled at the winter wonderland. Today I cross the road and enter the wooded part of the trail. Las time I was on this section, my tire was flat. Weirdly, Ed has a flat tire today. Coincidence?

The wind is sharp. I need my sunglasses to stop my eyes from watering. When I see a shadow bobbing up and down on the ground, I’m not sure what I’m seeing. Is it a trick of the light? Nope. It’s a Pileated Woodpecker digging food out of a log on the ground.

The snow has melted, and all of the streams have woken up. They’re chittering and chattering and babbling as they run down the hillside and crisscross and catch up at the bottom.

I zone out for a bit, thinking of some stories I’m working on. Then I snap back into focus with a jolt of worry because I haven’t seen a trail marker in a while. Around a bend, I see one, and breathe out with relief.

I startle six Cedar Waxwings into flight. They were eating berries of a holly bush and can’t wait for me to leave so they can return to their meal.

For a somewhat long distance, the trail is quiet of birds. I get lost in thoughts planning the first day of my first ever after school Bird Club! It’s coming up this Friday. We had a great response: 23 kids! I am excited and nervous.

My thoughts are interrupted by a very quiet, high-pitched sound. It’s a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and then right behind it I hear the Brown Creeper. I stand still for a minute and I collect several other bird sounds: American Goldfinch, Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse. I see some movement! Is it a bird? No, it’s just a leaf shadow on a tree trunk. Wait, there’s more movement! Way back in the bushes. It’s the kinglet! I watch it for a few moments and I’m rewarded for my patience by the sight of a Red-tailed Hawk soaring past the shrub line in the sky beyond.

I finish the walk on the shores of North Park Lake and count some Double-created Cormorants, a Pied-billed Grebe, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. It was a peaceful walk with 31 species! But it’s cold and I’m so happy to return to my warm car.

I turned off the PA Breeding Bird Atlas portal at some point and forgot to turn it back on, so there is only one checklist for this walk.

RCT - Ice Rink to Beaver Shelter Lot, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 7, 2026 10:39 AM - 12:49 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.235 kilometer(s)
31 species

Canada Goose 45
Mallard 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 4
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
European Starling 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Eastern Bluebird 1
American Robin 7
Cedar Waxwing 6
American Goldfinch 4
Field Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 4
White-throated Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 6
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Northern Cardinal 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S318366036

It sounds like birds are everywhere! The woods are full of giggling woodpeckers and shrieking towhees. I have to be on my game. I recognize the Fox Sparrow chip a moment before Merlin does. Then Merlin tells me maybe a Pine Warbler? I get dizzy spinning around to scan for it. No luck.

I check in at the Western Terminus sign. I spot a Pileated Woodpecker chipping away at a telephone pole. I turn to walk back to my care. Behind me, a group of crows erupt into cacophony. They’re very upset about something. I can only assume it’s a hawk but with any luck, perhaps they found an owl.

IT IS AN OWL.

It’s a Great Horned Owl. I get some lovely photos of this majestic hunter. I observe it for what seems like hours. I use binoculars, then no binoculars. I take videos. I take photos. On the Harmony trail, people just walk by and nobody asks what I’m looking at. It’s like they don’t care that there’s a Great Horned Owl right above their heads.

I am so grateful to the crows. This is another reminder that American Crows are the best birds around. I call out my thanks. One tilts its head at me. I swear it winks.

After that exciting start to spring, I drive the section of the trail from Brooktree Road to the McKinney Trail parking lot. I park and pause suddenly realize after two times of walking this that I’ve been going on the wrong trail. The Rachel Carson Trail actually starts off to the right and I typically go left. Pobody’s Nerfect.

There was a furious spring storm last night and the trail is dotted with post-rain puddles. I hear several Killdeer in the soccer fields, and then see three White-tailed deer hiding in the bushes. I suppose they don’t want to be killed. (Killdeer don’t kill deer.)

I pause for a moment to identify a mystery sparrow in the bushes (Song) and then I hear the familiar crinkly jingle of Tree Swallows overhead. My first of year! A female Eastern Towhee scours the leaves for snacks.

Bumblebees swirl around me as I cross the grassy meadow that brings me to the end of the McKinney Fields.

As I walk down the road, male and female Red-winged Blackbirds swoop by and a Turkey Vulture passes high overhead.

The path in the field is just a muddy grassy creek. It’s the perfect time to test my new Salomon trail running shoes. They are truly 100% waterproof and have nice grip on the soles and an easy tighten laces. I love them.

In the woods, I watch a Song Sparrow pulling tiny twigs off of a vine. Nest materials!

I hear Eastern Towhee after Towhee after Towhee. Too many Towhees? Not to me.

Two Northern Flickers dance together on a tree trunk, their yellow feathers displayed.

This area is usually full of White-Breasted Nuthatches. I finally spot one disappearing into a crevice in a large tree. Then I see a second nuthatch go in. I know they cache their food in little pockets in tree bark, but I wonder if this is also where they make their nests?

I come to a sort of flat, high spot on the trail and hear a familiar kek sound. I heard the same sound in this exact spot in the fall! It sounded like a Cooper’s Hawk but I couldn’t find it. This time I stand still for about 10 seconds and then the Cooper’s Hawk launches off of a branch and soars away. I KNEW IT.

The trees are still bare enough that I can see down to the road. I can hear the trill of American toads calling from the wetlands near the ice rink.

I cross the summit of the hill and now I am on a much sunnier slope. I’m excited to hear a Field Sparrow, and then I spy a Red-bellied Woodpecker building a nest in a tree cavity. I turn to follow the butterfly and hopefully ID it, but it moves too quick. Then I hear a flap-flap-flap and see a Pileated Woodpecker take off from a tree trunk behind me. I hadn’t seen it there and it hadn’t made a noise at all. Now I know that Pileated Woodpeckers are not silent flyers like owls. They’re actually pretty loud.

I have four checklists to start the season. Here are all the maps combined!

Checklist 1

RCT - West Term to Brooktree Hill, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 4, 2026 9:40 AM - 10:22 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.398 kilometer(s)
21 species

Mallard 2
Mourning Dove 2
Great Horned Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin 5
American Goldfinch 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 4 Male and female
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Northern Cardinal 6

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S316787644

Checklist 2

RC Trail - Western Terminus to McKinney, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 4, 2026 10:23 AM - 10:29 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.655 kilometer(s)
7 species

Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 3
European Starling 3
American Robin 2
Chipping Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S316792687

Checklist 3

RCT - McKinney trail, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 4, 2026 10:32 AM - 11:07 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.555 kilometer(s)
25 species (+1 other taxa)

Mourning Dove 2
Killdeer 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Carolina x Black-capped Chickadee (hybrid) 1
Tufted Titmouse 3
Tree Swallow 2
Carolina Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 8
American Goldfinch 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1
White-throated Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 4
Red-winged Blackbird 7
Common Grackle 1
Northern Cardinal 6

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S316818812

Checklist 4

RCT - McKinney to Ice Rink, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Apr 4, 2026 11:08 AM - 12:31 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.067 kilometer(s)
30 species

Canada Goose 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 7
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 11
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 14
Tree Swallow 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 2
Eastern Bluebird 1
American Robin 8
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 4
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
White-throated Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 13
Red-winged Blackbird 7
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Northern Cardinal 10

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S316875194