Spring Migration Peaks

The peak of spring migration began with a flurry of activity on the property! On Sunday afternoon, the variety of birds was really good. I saw 39 species with 10 FOS (first of season) birds. On Monday, the activity seemed to slow down, but I still saw 42 species with three FOS birds. Over the two days, I saw 54 species. The birdbath in the woods is really attracting a lot of attention. Here are a couple of male Baltimore Orioles that were photographed with my BirdCam. And an Indigo Bunting.


I have been watching a Barred Owl on a nest all spring. On the 15th, we could see movement in the nest, so we knew there was at least one baby in there. On Sunday, I walked along the trail and one of the babies was sitting on the edge of the nest, and I could see another in the nest. Here is what the baby Barred Owl looked like as he posed for his photo!


The Eastern Bluebirds had five babies and all five fledged on Tuesday, April 26. I'll be watching for the babies at my birdbath. In a couple of weeks, I should see nesting activity again as the adults start their second brood.

One of the most surprising finds on the property this spring didn't involve birds at all. While out birding on April 15, my friend and I went down to the old pond. We saw a Yellow-crowned Night-heron sitting on a branch low over the water. After he flew away, we walked to the edge of the water hoping to see some Wood Ducks. What we found were nine baby alligators with a six foot mama alligator! After locating the mother, we enjoyed looking at them!

Birds seen April 24 & 25, 2011 (54 species):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Barred Owl, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Blue-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Worm-eating Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Sparrow

Property Birding, 1/18/10

I spent an hour and a half birding on our property today. The birds were active! I didn't see anything I wouldn't expect to be there. There were a few pretty neat things. I stopped by the Barred Owl box I put up last spring and there has been some kind of activity at it. I could clearly see that something has been going in and out of the entrance hole. I'm not ready to say it's for sure a Barred Owl, but it's promising! Also, a little further down the trail, I found a Red-shouldered Hawk constructing a nest. They nest every year close to us. When they have chicks in the nest, we can sit outside and watch them fly back and forth carrying prey to feed them. The last neat thing was watching an Osprey fly directly overhead while I was at the new pond.

I realized I keep putting things on here about where I was when I saw something and most people have not been out here to be familiar with our property. Here's a rough map of what our property looks like.


The yellow line shows our fence line. To the east is mature woods with oak, hackberry and ash. In the middle is pasture which is being slowly overrun by tallow trees. To the west is a neat mixture of grassland and cedar/pine woods. I do 90% of my birdwatching on the eastern part of the property. I do like to go to the cedar/pine woods to the west to find Barn Owls. The old pond will have Hooded Mergansers, Anhinga and other ducks on it. So far, the ducks haven't come to the new pond made by the drilling company. It's still pretty open and there isn't much cover for them. It's a wonderful place to go birding. As of today, I've seen 193 species of birds on it.

Birds seen 1/18/10 (36 species): Snow Goose, Double-crested Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, European Starling, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow