Ten folks braved the light rain on Saturday morning and joined me for the monthly group bird walk. Here are some highlights.

When I arrived, as soon as I opened my car door I could smell the blooming Agarita. This prickly native shrub grows all over the western half of the Bunny Run. It's important to local wildlife both as cover and as a source of food when its berries ripen. It blooms for a relatively short period in early spring and we were fortunate to experience it on Saturday. The preserve was full of Agarita bushes with bright yellow flowers. Before anyone arrived I photographed this White-lined Sphix Moth feeding on some of them.

After the group walk got started, birds were scarce until we got down to the sandy prairie area in the northeast corner of the preserve. We got distant looks at a Merlin, a small falcon that spends the winter here. I initially mis-identified it as a Sharp-shinned Hawk, but the lack of a black cap and red barring made me suspect it was a Merlin. And when it flew a short distance its pointed wings made me sure.

We saw a pair of Wood Ducks near one of the Wood Duck nest boxes. The female was perched on top of it and we got a few quick looks at the male on the ground below. We gave them a wide berth. I hope they use the box this spring!

The sandy prairie area was full of Northern Cardinals and sparrows. We found Song, Lincoln's, White-throated, Chipping, and Field Sparrows. And we got good looks at the wintering Eastern Towhee that was still there. We were unable to find a female Pyrrhuloxia that I've observed a couple times in this area. But while we were looking for it this Lincoln's Sparrow perched nearby and gave us great looks.

Other highlights included watching an Osprey across the lake, many Cedar Waxwings flying overhead, singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets, many Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a great look at a male Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Here's our complete eBird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17451711

And here are a few more photos on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikael_behrens/sets/72157642407148954/