Golden-crowned Kinglet
“Through late October into the first two weeks of November there was a noticeable uptick of Golden-crowned Kinglets from the last four previous autumns.”
Through the year
Columns that mention it, by the month they were published.
Year by year
Columns that mention it each year.
In his words
Ten of the 19 passages, oldest first.
Brown Creepers and Golden Crowned Kinglets could be seen and heard during most days this winter in Robinson Woods I & II.
On time are the Golden-crowned Kinglets that are starting to creep through Cape in good numbers this year.
The threadlike high-pitched call notes of the Golden-crowned Kinglet rings through Robinson Woods and the chatter of Tufted Titmice and White-breasted Nuthatches busying themselves for the coming winter months is hard to ignore.
In that same instant something caught my eye just above me in a dense conifer bough - a Golden-crowned kinglet!
A few noteworthy observations from the first two weeks of March include a single Golden-crowned Kinglet spied within the tangles just above the intertidal zone along Pond Cove on March 5 (birders designate this as first of year “FOY”) and an American Woodcock was heard in the marshlands behind the high school on March…
Other mention worthy sightings this day in Gull Crest were a single Golden-crowned Kinglet and a Solitary Sandpiper.
On October 23 a Hermit Thrush was spotted in this same shrub and later that morning my first of the season Golden Crowned Kinglet was spotted in a dead crab apple tree on our property.
Through late October into the first two weeks of November there was a noticeable uptick of Golden-crowned Kinglets from the last four previous autumns.
In the first few days of January, I am thankful for Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers, the sweet whistled Tufted Titmice notes that accompany the falling snow, the hurried winter song from the ever curious Carolina Wrens…
Lastly, on the late afternoon of February 4 as the snow fell my son and I were walking in Robinson Woods (I) and came upon three Golden-crowned Kinglets singing in an old Black Spruce Tree and from somewhere high overhead came the gurgling croak of a Common Raven.
Show all 19 passages
On March 26 in the same vicinity, I noted a male and female Wood duck, a single Golden-crowned Kinglet and many singing Song Sparrows, Brown Creepers and White Breast Nuthatches.
Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets continued to be in abundance as were Brown Creepers.
One thing I always try to remember when distinguishing between Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets is that the former has a plain face and an eye-ring while the latter has a stripe above the eye and no whitish ring around the eye.
Shortly thereafter, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Pileated Woodpecker, and separately, a Northern Flicker, a Pileated Woodpecker, two Golden-crowned Kinglets and a Brown Creeper in the same tree together.
The following day, January 23, in Robinson Woods I counted six Golden-crowned Kinglets and was surprised to find two Swamp Sparrows along the Pond Cove brook corridor.
Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers were abundant in the park’s forested sections.
During the cold months Golden-crowned Kinglets are likely to be seen travelling through our woodlands in small “courts” consisting of 3-6 birds.
The joy of being pulled from my desk to the window by an ever so slight movement to spy on a Golden-crowned Kinglet flitting about in a snow draped Hemlock with his flashy lemon-yellow crown.
In early January, I am thankful for many things, including but not limited to, the fine sweet trill of a Red-breasted Nuthatch, the thin, silvery calls of Golden-crowned Kinglets deep within the forest, the way a Brown Creeper’s song calls to mind pine boughs sighing in the wind…