April 13, 2009
The end of an era
This blog turned five years old on Apr 12th 2009. As of this day, I've transferred the blog over to the new section of Surfbirds blogs. It can now be found here.
I'm hoping that the archives from 2004-2009 will be permanently stored at this URL. Thanks for reading over the years, and hope you'll check out the new site!
April 6, 2009
Spring migration heats up
This weekend saw the arrival of many new migrants at the State Botanical Gardens - chittering Chimney Swifts and vireos among them. I need to work on recognizing my vireo songs - I had a visual on a singing Yellow-throated, but other singing birds, probably Blue-headed or Red-eyed, remained invisible to me in the canopy. Fortunately White-eyed Vireos have a distinctive song and like to sing at eye-level.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are back en masse...
... and fearlessly torment the resident Red-tailed Hawks.
On Sunday a stroll along Cook's Trail yielded my FOTS Prothonotary and Hooded Warblers, along with zillions of Parulas and Yellowthroats.
This Green Anole was more photographically co-operative.
My afternoon of yard work was interrupted by a call from Joel about an Upland Sandpiper in the Bostwick area. Sadly, the bird had disappeared by the time we got there, but the consolation prize was close looks at a basic-plumaged American Golden Plover, sharing a tiny pond with a Pectoral Sandpiper and a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs.
A singing Horned Lark was present, along with some acrobatic Eastern Meadowlarks...
... and a sizeable Black Vulture roost.
After a brief stop for a Solitary Sandpiper, we spent some time at Bill and Karla's impressive backyard bird-feeding station. Many Pine Siskins were still present in good numbers, attracting the attention of a marauding Cooper's Hawk.
I also saw my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year.
On campus, many Cedar Waxwing flocks have switched from berry-eating to aerial flycatching.
A rare sight - the ruby crown of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
Flicker.
Lifers are like buses...
... you wait ages for the next one and then two come along at once! First up was most unexpected - a small raptor kettling with Turkey Vultures in the botanical garden turned out to be my first Broad-winged Hawk! I even managed a ropey record shot, showing the broad white tail-band and dark trailing edge to the wings.
Later on the same day, while sipping sazeracs on a friend's back porch, I heard a Barred Owl ask with its best Georgian accent 'who cooks for y'aaaaaall', and got good enough views as it flew off to hunt in the twilight. This fills in the most glaring gap on my US list - they seem to be dirt common around here and I expect to the bumping into them all the time from now on. Another sazerac was imbibed while I pondered what my new bogey bird should be...