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