New Property Bird - #194

I spent about three hours walking in the woods this morning. There was a lot of activity, but not a lot of migrants just yet. Just to the east of the new pond, several warblers and other birds were flying around. Most of them were Yellow-rumped Warblers, many in their breeding plumage. A Northern Parula called incessantly and came out several times to show off his brilliant plumage. Then my new property bird showed up. A Prothonotary Warbler was in the same tree as the parula. He gave me some great looks! I never would have thought I'd see a Black-throated Blue Warbler and Cape May Warbler on the property before a Prothonotary, but that's just the way it worked out. He is property bird #194. In a clump of yaupon trees just below the Prothonotary, a Worm-eating Warbler looked for insects. A female Hooded Warbler came in and out of the thicket. A Red-eyed Vireo and Black-and-white Warbler flew from tree to tree in search of breakfast. Swallows, martins and swifts flew overhead. On the way back in, an Osprey flew overhead.

The Eastern Bluebird chicks hatched on 3/30. I checked the box yesterday (4/4) and this is what they look like.
They're starting to get feathers in on their wings. They should fledge around April 17. I'll post more pictures over the next couple of weeks.

Here's a picture of Mr. Bluebird I took a while back.


Birds seen 4/5/10 (43 species): Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo (FOS), Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler (FOS & new property bird), Worm-eating Warbler (FOS), Hooded Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting (FOS), Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow