Birding On A Windy Day

A strong southerly breeze didn't give me a lot of hope that there would be many migrants around today. Many of them take advantage of the winds and just keep going north once they hit the coast. Those that did stop yesterday take off at nightfall (you can actually watch that on radar between 8:30 and 9:30 usually) and continue their journey north. So, I went out this morning not expecting to see a whole lot. Unfortunately, I was right. Most of what I saw were either year-round residents or resident migrants that nest here. I was only out for a couple of hours this morning. I got back in and Eastern Kingbirds showed up in some really great numbers! At one time there were six of them trying to get to the mulberry tree on the east side of the house. A mockingbird was vigorously defending "his" tree. That was fun to watch. I thought maybe I could go out in the afternoon and catch some of the incoming migrants as they stop to refuel before continuing north. It was pretty much the same story, except for the ten to fifteen Baltimore Orioles that I found in the top of some trees. Those were the only two FOS birds I got today.

The mulberry tree has been pretty productive today. Along with the Eastern Kingbirds, I've seen Orchard Orioles grabbing a few berries. I thought I saw a Baltimore Oriole, but the mockingbird chased it away before I could get my binoculars to see very well. I keep looking for Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in there. They typically show up in there every year.

An adult White-winged Dove showed up at my feeder today. I have never seen an adult at my feeders. That was kind of fun to see, although I know that if they start increasing in numbers, I'll soon want to get rid of them because of how much they eat.

I checked the bluebird nest this morning. The eggs haven't hatched yet. I projected them to hatch tomorrow, so we'll see if I'm right. The Purple Martins haven't continued their nest-building activities. It will happen, but I'm ready for them to get started now!

Even though it was a slower day, I did end up with 43 species. That's not too bad. I checked my list against the birds I saw last year on this date and I'm fifteen species ahead for this year. I'm not sure what to attribute that to. I have seen several birds this spring that I didn't get last year, but I don't think it is that many. Maybe I just had a better winter than I thought.

Bird species seen on 4/24/09 (43 species): Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird (FOS), White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole (FOS), House Sparrow