Excellent Day in the Woods

On Sunday, I walked in the woods with Amberlyn to see what migrants might be there. It was raining on us nearly the entire time, at some times pretty heavily! We came across a few birds, but for the most part it was pretty slow. I figured Monday would be a better day with the rain all night and front moving through. I was right! I ended up with 60 species today. Some of them were at my feeders and in my yard, but the majority were in the woods. I added fourteen birds to my year list today. I saw fourteen species of warblers, three thrushes, both tanagers, both buntings and one grosbeak. There were several places in the woods where there were just too many birds to look at. It was a lot of fun. Before I knew it, I had been down there for four hours. The time just flew by! Yellow-breasted Chats sang from the thick understory. It seemed everywhere I went a Kentucky Warbler was singing. Hooded Warblers sang from several locations too. Red-eyed Vireos have begun singing from high in the canopy. A Blue-winged Warbler sang from thick tree. I almost gave up seeing him, but he finally came out and gave me some really good looks at him. Another Prothonotary Warbler caught my attention. After six years of not seeing them, I've seen one the last two times I've been in the woods. A Scarlet Tanager almost took my breath away with his neon red and striking black wings. Scores of Indigo Buntings called from the understory and looked on the cleared land for seeds. A Painted Bunting perched on a tree limb that had fallen and allowed me about 30 seconds of viewing pleasure! A Cooper's Hawk flew across my yard carrying a bird. The male Eastern Bluebird was chasing him. I hope he didn't get one of the juveniles that just fledged on Saturday. I sure wish I had tomorrow off because it will be a good day as well.

Our Bird-a-thon day was rescheduled to the 25th because of the rain and a stomach bug. Apparently Sunday was an excellent day at High Island. If we can see 200 species, we'll raise over $400 for the Houston Audubon Society.

I mentioned before that the Eastern Bluebird chicks fledged on Saturday. I cleaned the old nest out today. Hopefully they'll start a second nest within the next couple of weeks.

Birds seen April 19, 2010 (60 species): Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow*, Barn Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Gray-cheeked Thrush*, Swainson's Thrush*, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Blue-winged Warbler*, Tennessee Warbler*, Nashville Warbler*, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler*, Blackburnian Warbler*, Blackpoll Warbler*, Cerulean Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler*, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat*, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager*, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak*, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting*, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

*= First of Season