Slow Day In The Woods But Two FOS Birds At The House

I went out birding this afternoon in the wake of a cold front that moved through. Relatively light north winds were blowing, so I thought today might be a pretty good day. I could not have been more wrong. Nothing was moving down in the woods. Nothing was singing. Nothing was flying. It was as quiet as I've ever seen it down there. So, I came up to the house, built a fire in the chiminea and sat outside. I saw more sitting outside the house than I did in the woods. There were two FOS birds that showed up while I was out there - Mississippi Kite and Chimney Swift.

The bluebirds are building their nest! I was getting concerned about them. I'm hoping that with them starting a little later, maybe they'll have a higher percentage of eggs that hatch. It looks like they're probably at least a week or so away from laying eggs. The male bluebird also flies over to the box in my yard and sings quite a bit. I wonder if he's making sure that no more bluebirds nest in it, or if he has another female that he wants to use the box.

Birds seen on March 31, 2009 (19 species): Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Mississippi Kite (FOS), Eurasian Collard-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift (FOS), Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird

Cold, Windy Migration Day

Today was slower than yesterday. It was very cool this morning, around 44 degrees and the wind was blowing 15 - 20 mph. Not much was moving around in those kinds of conditions. I didn't see much this morning, but went back out this afternoon and made up for it some, even though the wind was blowing pretty hard still. The only FOS birds I saw today were Broad-winged Hawk and Blue-headed Vireo. My first thought when I saw the Blue-headed Vireo was, "Solitary Vireo!" Old habits are hard to break. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were displaying their ruby crowns today. There were still quite a few Northern Parulas around, still more than I remember seeing.

Birds seen 3/28/09 (27 species): Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch

The Day of the Northern Parula

Spring migrants were all over the place today! It was quite exciting in the woods. I got several FOS birds for the property. One thing that was very noticeable was the number of Northern Parulas. I probably heard ten individual males singing. I saw a couple of females with males chasing them around. One time I stopped to watch a couple of the Northern Parulas in the trees and a male Hooded Warbler hopped up in a tree not too far from me. He stayed in full view for a long time. Then the birds really started showing up! In the half-hour I stood in that spot, a Black-and-white Warbler showed up, followed closely by a Yellow-throated Warbler. I could see something moving in the understory, so I moved forward and found a Kentucky Warbler and Common Yellowthroat. A Summer Tanager began singing behind me high in a post oak. Just after the tanager began singing, a Red-eyed Vireo flew into view and began singing too. A couple of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds flew overhead. I was in a pretty open area where a tree fell during the hurricane and could see Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying overhead along with the Purple Martins. A Great Crested Flycatcher flew in and showed off why he is called a fly catcher.

One thing that concerns me is the bluebirds. There is no nest started (they had eggs in the nest last year at this time.) I see the male over there pretty regularly, but haven't seen the female in a while. I hope nothing happened to her.

Birds seen 3/27/09 (41 species): Great Egret, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Crested Caracara, Upland Sandpiper, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Ruby-throated Hummingbird (FOS), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher (FOS), White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo (FOS), Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler (FOS), Black-and-white Warbler (FOS), Kentucky Warbler (FOS), Common Yellowthroat (FOS), Hooded Warbler (FOS), Summer Tanager (FOS), Field Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

Lifer! On The Property!

On Tuesday, March 17, I was out birding in the afternoon and ran across a warbler that didn't look at all familiar to me. That usually doesn't happen. I can normally tell without a doubt, at least with breeding-plumage males, which species I'm looking at. This one was not like that. I saw him at the top of a tree about 30 ft. away. At first all I could see was his breast. It was bright yellow with heavy black streaks on it over the yellow. My first thought was a Canada Warbler, but the streaking was too heavy and it's typically too early for Canada Warblers to be here. My second thought was a Magnolia Warbler, but it's very early for a Magnolia Warbler to be here. So I kept watching hoping to get a view of his face. He turned a little bit and I saw the white patch on his wings. That confused me even more. Finally, he showed his face to me and I got some really great looks of him. It was yellow with a rufous patch under his eye. I watched him for probably fifteen minutes before flew out of sight. I chased and did not find him after that. I didn't have my book with me, so I logged all the field marks I could. I got home, pulled down my Sibley field guide and started flipping through. There is no doubt in my mind that I was looking at a Cape May Warbler! They're not incredibly common here as they usually migrate on the Eastern Flyway (we're in the Central Flyway.) They do show up and I see reports of them every year on the rare bird alert of people seeing them at High Island or in the Beaumont area. It's a bird I've wanted to see since I've been birding. So, the Cape May Warbler makes life bird #367 for me and property bird #191. I always get excited seeing a life bird, but especially on the property! With the Cape May Warbler on my list, I've seen all of the eastern wood-warblers with the exception of the Connecticut Warbler and Kirtland's Warbler. Maybe they'll pass through the property at some point . . .

More Spring Migrants Showing Up

This morning I went birding on the property and had a few more FOS birds show up. Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows flew overhead. A Hooded Warbler called several times. The highlight of my day were the two Swallow-tailed Kites that were circling with a couple of Black Vultures. I was able to watch them for a quite a while. There are still lots of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers around. I even heard a few White-throated Sparrows. Cardinals are singing everywhere. White-eyed Vireos sound their calls from the dense blackberry vine tangles.

I put up the Barred Owl box I built over a year ago. I'm not sure why I waited until now to put it up. It's too late for them to use it this year, but maybe next year. I still have no Purple Martins in my house or gourds. The Eastern Bluebirds haven't started building their nest yet. I hope they get started soon.

Yesterday as I was working on my four-wheeler, I could hear a couple of American Goldfinches calling from the hackberry tree in my backyard. I finally found them and the male was nearly in complete breeding plumage. It's been a long time since I've seen a male goldfinch in breeding plumage. That was fun.

Bird Species Seen 3/21/09 (32 species): Little Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite (FOS), Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow (FOS), Northern Rough-winged Swallow (FOS), Barn Swallow (FOS), Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Hooded Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird

The First Spring Migrants

This afternoon after getting home from a trip to Columbus, I decided to go out in the woods and see what was moving around out there. Spring migrants are beginning to show up. Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Vireo and a Black-throated Green Warbler. Birds are singing territorial songs everywhere.

I'm a little surprised at the bluebirds. Last year they had their nest completed on March 20. This year they haven't even started. I hope they nest with us again this year!

Bird Species Seen 3/17/09 (25 species): Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Barred Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo (FOS), American Crow, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Northern Parula (FOS), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler (FOS), Field Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird