MI - Henlsow's quest 05/17

The last two days have seen a distinct shift in tempo for our tour. With migration slowing a little at Magee Marsh we've been able to concentrate on finding some of the scarcer breeding species in Ohio and Michigan. We also added two species to our ever growing warbler list for the tour, finding Blue-winged yesterday at Oak Openings and Cerulean today near Ann Harbor in Michigan. The highlight would have to be the Henslow's Sparrows that we found singing today (05/17) near Ann Harbor before embarking on the long drive to Grayling, MI.

Acadian Flycatcher - singing bird near Ann Harbor, MI.

 

Cerulean Warbler - singing male near Ann Harbor, MI.

 

Eastern Whip-poor-will - Magee Marsh, NW Ohio. May 16th. 2013.

Remarkably, our third roosting 'whip' of the tour.

 

 

Henslow's Sparrow - near Ann Harbor, MI.

 

 

Red-headed Woodpecker - Oak Openings Preserve, NW Ohio. May 16th, 2013.



OH - What?! Another Kirtland's at Magee Marsh!! 05/15

Each new day in NW Ohio seems to upstage the previous one as the Birdfinders tour seems to find itself in the right place at the right time with the most incredible fortune. The day began stormy with winds out of the SW and it was clear from the outset that huge numbers of birds were dropping into and around Magee Marsh. Large flocks of Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings and Pine Siskins filtered along the Lake Erie shore for most of the first two hours of the morning. The trees and bushes were heaving with American Redstarts, Magnolia Warblers and Northern Parulas. Indeed, during the course of the day we tallied an almighty 27 species of wood-warbler including no less than 22 in the tiny woodlot in the end of Bono Road at Metzger Marsh. Miraculously, another Kirtland's Warbler was found today just 100 yards west of our lunching spot on the beach at Magee. This bird, likely a first-summer male, was a tad brighter than yesterday's female at the East Beach which had apparently been seen again in the morning. To round off yet another brilliant day we enjoyed a female Golden-winged Warbler, an Orange-crowned Warbler and a roosting Eastern Whip-poor-will all in the tiny woodlot at Metzger Marsh.

Canada Warbler - male, Metzger Marsh, NW Ohio.

 

 

Kirtland's Warbler - first-summer male, West Beach, Magee Marsh, NW Ohio.

 

Eastern Whip-poor-will - Metzger Marsh, NW Ohio.

 

Orange-crowned Warbler - Metzger Marsh, NW Ohio.

 

 

 



OH - Kirtland's tops 26 species of warbler at Magee Marsh today 05/14

Crane Creek WMA - This morning (May 14th) my group and I found a female Kirtland's Warbler on the East Beach Trail at Magee Marsh. The bird (pictured below in the first four images) topped a stellar cast of 26 species of warbler tallied by our Birdfinders group during the day. In the afternoon we wrestled with a distant Bairds/White-rumped Sandpiper at the Crane Creek Estuary and had to walk away leaving it unidentified for the time being. And then there was the two Philadelphia Vireos on the boardwalk at Magee to round off another incredible day - both of these birds could be seen at arms-length (quite literally) and seemed oblivious the assembled admirers.



 

OH - Magee Wows! 05/12

Nothing short of amazing - that's the only way to describe Birdfinders' first full day of spring migration in NW Ohio. We spent a bitterly cold day at Crane Creek WMA focusing heavily on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh. By the end of the day we'd tallied 22 species of wood-warbler - not too shabby for Day One!



MA - migrants drop in today 05/09

Gill - There's nothing like a bit of rain and thunder to stir up (or bring down!) migrants after a protracted dry spell. Heavy showers late yesterday moving into the night brought some obvious changes to the migrant situation today but the first bird of note over the yard was a strange one - a female Common Merganser heading SW! All ducks are scarce around our yard and I think this was only our third record of Common Merganser since moving into our current home on Main Road in September 2010. In terms of grounded birds, fresh arrivals included Eastern Kingbird (2), Wood Thrush (1), Ovenbird (1), Northern Parula (2), American Redstart (1) and Gray Catbird (2).

Along Main Road, many songsters included more Wood Thrushes, American Redstarts, Yellow and Black-throated Green Warblers, Great Crested Flycatcher and a single Blackburnian Warbler. And, for the first time this year, singing Savannah Sparrows were heard on North Cross Road and Ben Hale Road but still no Bobolinks.....it looks like I'll miss their arrival as I head for Ohio on Saturday.





American Redstart - male singing, Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. May 9th, 2013.

This bird and two Northern Parulas spent the whole day singing high up in the maples surrounding the house and proved almost impossible to photograph.

 

 

Eastern Kingbird - one of two present, singing and displaying in the yard.

Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 9th, 2013.



MA - summer breeders slow to arrive 05/08

Gill - This morning I had the pleasure of surveying 'Blake Farm', our neighbor's property due east of the intersection of Mountain Road and Main Road in Gill. The plot consists of about 90 acres and incorporates a number of habitats including mixed woodland, field edges, small wetlands and vernal pools, early successional and several 'blow-downs', as well as the family homestead.

Over the course of four hours I tallied 228 individuals of 48 bird species. Many of these were potential breeders and there was very little evidence of any migration through the site today. Although I recorded a few 'firsts of the year' such as Wood Thrush, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, it became clear that many expected summer breeders have yet to arrive including most of the warblers and ALL the empidonax flycatchers.

However, some of the earlier arrivals seemed to be well established already with nice totals of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (11), Black-throated Green Warbler (7), Pine Warbler (8), Ovenbird (8), Common Yellowthroat (7), Eastern Towhee (4) and Baltimore Oriole (4). Personal highlights included great views of Winter Wren (3) and Louisiana Waterthrush (1). I also managed to obtain reasonable sound recordings of both of the latter species.

The whole survey was 'human-powered' as I biked into the site from home and then walked a couple of miles around the plot. This was the first of about half-a-dozen planned surveys within this plot which I hope to carry out on a near-weekly basis through late spring into early summer.

All images were taken using a Canon Powershot G10 on May 8th, 2013

 at 'Blake Farm', Gill, Franklin Co., MA. 

Common Yellowthroat - male.

Ovenbird - about 8 singing males seen and heard today.

Louisiana Waterthrush - the only waterthrush seen today

 but a bold male often singing from completely exposed song posts.



Winter Wren - one of three singing males.

Eastern Towhee - male



MA - a few more warblers 05/07

Gill - another Blue-winged Warbler this morning, this one in full song at the north end of Mountain Road and a Blackburnian Warbler singing from hemlocks on Bascom Road. Otherwise, the most notable change was the general increase in singing Common Yellowthroats and Ovenbirds around Gill. Our Baltimore Oriole was again singing from the yard though I didn't hear any bursts of the previously noted Scott's Oriole-type song today.

JPS

MA - first Blue-winged Warbler 05/06

Gill - After a very chilly morning, this afternoon became surprisingly warm, almost hot. A nice and rather unexpected bonus in our yard was a FOY Blue-winged Warbler which flew past me whilst I was trying to get better looks at one of the (now) resident Yellow Warblers. I wasn't too sure that it was a Blue-winged until it gave a burst of the classic 'beee-buzz' song. It then sang a quieter sub-song for the next ten minutes or so successfully eluding my attempts to get a picture. This was not our earliest Blue-winged Warbler though - back in 2011, we had this bird on May 1st;
http://pioneerbirding.blogspot.com/2011/05/ma-evening-grosbeak-0501.html

By way of follow-up to my earlier post concerning a Baltimore Oriole seemingly mimicking a Scott's Oriole song, well this evening I played a sound recording of Scott's Oriole and got an immediate response from the same indivdual Baltimore Oriole. It returned with typical song and calls of Baltimore Oriole. I didn't hear the Scott's Oriole song-type from this bird this evening but will attempt to get a sound recording if I hear it again.

Pictured below, a very approachable White-breasted Nuthatch at Giving Tree School, Gill on May 6th, 2013;



MA - arrivals trickle in

Gill - The last two days have seen just a tiny handful of summer migrants putting in their first appearances around the yard. Yesterday morning (May 5th), an Eastern Kingbird was calling from the tall maples surrounding the house but never came close to being photogenic. Susannah also heard the first Veery of the year singing from the yard in mid-morning, but that particular bird eluded me! Yesterday's Northern Parula continued singing high up in the maples. Out on the road there was a Louisiana Waterthrush singing above a patch of skunk cabbage right next to Main Road about a mile due NE of the intersection with Rte 2, and a Prairie Warbler was singing from the power line cut at the southern end of West Gill Road, again not too far from the intersection of Rte 2. Chimney Swifts appeared over the yard in numbers for the first time this year.

Image set, mostly from May 5th and all from our yard in Gill, Franklin Co., MA;

 

 



May 6th dawned extremely chilly, being cold and damp with clear evidence of a frost. Early migrants must have be shivering for the first few hours of the day. Purple Finches were vocal in the first hour from sunrise including two birds singing on Center Road and another on Lyons Hill Road. More surprising was a singing Pine Siskin, also on Center Road, the first time in a while that I've seen or heard Pine Siskins locally. The best new migrant, however, was a singing Cape May Warbler at Giving Tree School off Main Road at about 08:30hrs.

As if to keep me on my toes, a male Baltimore Oriole which arrived on May 4th has been giving occasional, random bursts of a perfect Scott's Oriole-type song. I heard three bursts of this song type on the 4th and again another burst of song today (May 6th). The Scott's-type song appears to be interspersed within typical Baltimore Oriole song, but had I been in the Hill Country of Texas I would have turned my head fully expecting to see a male Scott's Oriole singing at the top of a Maple! I'm hopeful of capturing a few sound recordings of this bird as it seems to be working a circuit between our yard and the surrounding yards as the quality and clarity of the Scott's-type song certainly caught me off-guard having heard it only a few weeks ago in Central Texas.

Baltimore Oriole - male. Easy enough to hear but somewhat elusive when it comes to pictures.

This bird seems to be giving the odd burst of a Scott's Oriole song within its more typical Baltimore Oriole song. Hopefully, a few sound recordings will appear in future posts. 

MA - First Orioles amd more 05/04

Gill - Another day of immaculate weather though once again dawning chilly as we've experienced all through this week. A bigger, better day for migrants with obvious signs of new arrivals in and around the yard most notably a couple of singing Baltimore Orioles, a calling Gray Catbird, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow, Chimney Swift and Amercian Redstart all moving through quickly without stopping. In the yard, a Warbling Vireo sang vigorously all day and seems to be on territory while a yellow (Eastern) Palm Warbler and a Northern Parula were certainly migrants. Our Louisiana Waterthrush remains present on the brook though is extremely aloof when it comes to views, usually only detectable by song and call. Elsewhere in Gill, Yellow, Pine, Black-throated and Yellow-rumped Warblers seem to be widespread already along with other summer breeders such as Ovenbird and Blue-headed Vireo. Susannah also reported the first Wood Thrush of the year singing in a woodlot off North Cross Road, Gill.

All images taken from our yard in Gill, Franklin Co., MA on May 4th, 2013 using a Canon Powershot G10 compact digital camera.

Eastern Bluebird

Bank Swallow - the second of two sightings from our yard today.

This bird was hanging out with the local Barn Swallows in late afternoon.

It landed on the ground several times and may have been collecting nesting material?

 

Northern Flicker - busy excavating a nest hole.

Female pictured below.

(Eastern) Palm Warbler - feeding high in the tree tops today and difficult to photograph.

Eastern Phoebe

House Finch nestlings

Purple Finch - female. Often compared to and some confused with House Finch,

but the striking head pattern and chunky proportions remind me more of a 'mini' grosbeak.