Today was the first day I didn’t record any migrant passerines on my morning birding rounds, which means that it’s time to put my head down, do some work, and await mid-August. Nonetheless, among the notables trickling through this week was a singing Marsh Wren at the  botgarden beaverpond, a very late pair of Ruddy Ducks at Sandy Creek Park, and 1-2 late Swainson’s Thrushes feeding on mulberries at the back of my yard. One of them obligingly came in to bathe in my new water feature.

One of the botgarden Swainson’s Warblers continues to give great views, but remains fiendishly difficult to get a good photo of.

Some other posers.

It has been extremely slow-going for migrants this week. After walking the entire loop around the botgarden and recording only one Magnolia Warbler, I drove to Lake Herrick without hope of seeing much. As I drove the access road I heard a Yellowthroat-like song coming from a fruiting mulberry tree. On further investigation this turned out to be a Chestnut-sided Warbler, but another song from across the railroad track caught my attention. I immediately thought Wilson’s Warbler, but given their scarcity in the spring I wanted views to be sure. Easy to see it wasn’t!

On the contrary, the kingbirds-in-residence were showy as always.

I have also had good luck seeing the scarce breeders in the State Botanical Garden. This Mississippi Kite was sitting on a snag over the river.

Evidently I got there just in time!

It seems like there are 4 Swainson’s Warbler territories in the garden this year. It’s always a treat to actually see one.

While the window of passage may be closing for some species, others are still going strong. The ACC landfill has held both yellowlegs this week (this one’s a Greater)…

… and a second, brighter Semipalmated Sandpiper (here offering a nice comparison with Least).

We have been lucky to run into 3 different Bank Swallows on 3 different days. This docu-shot was taken at the landfill.

An impressive 12 Spotted Sandpipers were at Lake Herrick, resulting in lots of posturing and jostling for space on the shoreline.

The best migrant at the botanical garden was a second Connecticut Warbler. Several other warbler species are passing through (with the notable exception of Canada), although the ratio of females to males has shot up. The breeding birds have also been a treat. Simon and I were lucky to see this Mississippi Kite pair copulate just across the river from the Orange Trail.

This Kentucky Warbler with grub was presumably on its way to a nest.

A variety of strange calls alerted me to the presence of this Barred Owl adult and begging fledgling.

The commotion attracted the attention of a plucky Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher…

… and also had the Pileateds on red alert.

Finally the adult caught a fish and coaxed the juvenile down into a less conspicuous spot.

Even though it’s only been here for less than a week, the pond is already proving to be a magnet for bird activity.

The wood-warblers have found it too, including this American Redstart…

… and a Common Yellowthroat.

This newly-fledged warbler came to investigate the pond. I’m not sure what it is – most likely would be Pine Warbler, but it looks Parula-ish to me. Thoughts?

It all began yesterday when I heard this at Little Lake Herrick:

Connecticut Warbler singing

I got home from work to find that Jason from Nature’s Outpost had finished building my dream pond in the backyard. Within a few hours of completion, beautiful Cedar Waxwings were taking full advantage of the new bathing spot.

This morning’s rainstorms deposited a Semipalmated Plover (first recent county record, and a new one for us all) along with 2 Leasts and one Solitary Sandpiper at Charlie Bolton Road. Simon, Mirko and I got it in the nick of time before it flew off. After failing to find any migrant passerines of note in the botgarden, I returned to the house to find Redstart, Parula, Blackpoll and this gem of a Magnolia Warbler all singing in the yard.

Mid-afternoon brought another heavy downpour, and I couldn’t help but re-check the Athens’ prime sites for waterbirds. As I arrived at the ACC landfill, a Semipalmated Sandpiper flew in with 5 Leasts, only the third occasion I have seen one in the county.

The supporting cast. Only the Spotted was present when we checked this morning!

I arrived at Lake Chapman to find it empty. Just as I was packing up my scope to leave I was thrilled to see a Bank Swallow fly low over the water just behind the beach – only the second I have seen in Clarke. I decided to wait around in the hope of photo-documenting it (it never came back), but was dumbfounded when a black-hooded, dark-backed gull flew towards me. I managed a few poor photos before it disappeared, but the large amount of dark in the primaries with no white tips, and relatively long bill, confirm this as the first county record of Laughing Gull.

High point of the week for me was discovering Clarke Co.’s first nesting colony of Cliff Swallows under the Atlanta highway. The species wasn’t discovered nesting in the state until the mid-60s, and has been expanding northwards and eastwards ever since. Given the proximity to the long-established colony at nearby Bear Creek Reservoir, it was only a matter of time before they jumped the county line.

Some birds were visiting several nests, including this potential usurper who grabbed the current occupant by the bill. Fascinating stuff.

Birding at the South Milledge fields has remained productive. Migrants included a smashing adult White-crowned Sparrow and several Bobolinks.

Two male Yellow-breasted Chats are holding territory, as are at least two male Orchard Orioles.

I added two new yard birds this week: Mississippi Kite and Common Yellowthroat. I was also pleased to see singing male Scarlet Tanager and American Redstart.

Migration in the State Botanical Garden has been pretty slow, although we do have a handful of Magnolia Warblers coming through. Nonetheless, the local breeders have entertained. This Barred Owl returned to bathe in the same spot we saw it several times last year.

James Neves pointed out this cute fledgling Blue-gray Gnatcatcher baby in the privet eradication area.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo finally seems to be back in, although this bird remains the only one I’ve actually seen this year.

Some later than usual migrants this week included a ringtail Northern Harrier at the ACC landfill, and a Common Loon downed by the only rain we’ve had all week.

Non-bird sightings of interest included a very confiding beaver on Newton Bridge Road…

… and a rough green snake along Cook’s Trail.

It seems like weather conditions have caused many migrants to overfly us this spring, and I haven’t had a single day where I felt like warblers were dripping from the trees. Nonetheless, we’ve been getting ones and twos of all the expected migrants, and every day out at the garden brings something different. Earlier in the week, Simon Mitchell got this great shot of a Merlin circling over the powerline cut.

This White-eyed Vireo was warming its chicks on a cold morning.

The tulip poplars have been alive with colourful birds for the last few days – both oriole species, Scarlet Tanagers and this fine male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Chestnut-sided Warblers have been showing well all week in the privet eradication area.

Today Lee Hartle and I spent a good amount of time watching a pair of Kentucky Warblers gathering nest material – a real treat to see this normally skulking species walking around in the path in front of us.

Soft hoots gave away the presence of this Barred Owl sitting almost directly over the trail.

As well as birds, April is a great time for snakes. This Copperhead slithered off the road just in time to avoid being run over.

This (water?)snake wasn’t so lucky…

Back in ’09 I attempted an impromptu bike birdathon in Clarke Co., racking up a respectable 104 species. Now, armed with knowledge of some exciting new birding spots (and a car!) I figured I was in good shape to beat this record on April 28th, typically the ‘birdiest’ day of the year in Georgia. I started out listening for my local Barred Owl just before 5am. No luck with that, but I did add a flight-calling Indigo Bunting as my 100th yard bird. Next stop was an access to Cook’s Trail from Nowhere Road, a site where I’ve had a 20% success rate of finding Eastern Screech-Owl. Fortune smiled on me today though, and I heard a ‘purring’ bird just after parking the car, without even having to hike down to the creek.

Next stop was Pittard Road, where both Whips and Chucks were calling all over the place. In the murky half-light, a stop on Charlie Bolton Road yielded singing Grasshopper Sparrow. After collecting a few more open country birds on Morton Road, I made the executive decision to skip Lake Chapman (too foggy) and head straight to the ACC landfill. This proved to be a good decision, as the gates were open early and I got to bird before too much traffic arrived. I picked up some important species, including a surprise late American Pipit, and my only Wilson’s Snipe of the day (plus 8 Solitary, 2 Spotted and 1 Least Sandpiper).

From the landfill I headed directly to the South Milledge fields, getting a drive-by Collared Dove en route. This proved to be an excellent decision, as I got my two best birds of the day – a singing Sedge Wren (we usually get one or zero per year in the county) and the first Dickcissel of the spring statewide!

I breezed around Lake Herrick and was lucky to see 2 Lesser Yellowlegs just before they flew off.

I spent the next 3.5 hours walking (and re-walking) the trails in the State Botanical Garden, trying to get as many breeders and migrants as I could. While I got all of the breeding warblers (including excellent looks at Swainson’s and Prothonotary Warblers) on the first pass, it took quite a lot of work to get White-breasted Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker and Yellow-throated Vireo. A Solitary Sandpiper was feeding on an exposed island in the river.

Skywatching at the powerline cut mid-morning gave me all my expected raptors (including 2 thermalling Broad-winged Hawks). Even as the noon hour approached, I was able to add singing Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler before pausing for a well-earned lunch.

The afternoon birding was agonizingly slow on a very hot afternoon. I revisited several of the morning’s spots and a few new ones turning up almost no new species. Nonetheless, I picked up my only Pied-billed Grebe of the day on the Golf Course Pond, Black-throated Blue Warbler (an unexpected miss at the botgarden) at Lake Herrick, a fine male Blackpoll Warbler on Cook’s Trail, and Double-crested Cormorants at Lake Chapman. While zoning out hoping for a flyover Osprey, I was galvanized into action by a call from the O’Grady’s, who had Pine Siskins and freshly-arrived Mississippi Kites from their yard. I dipped the siskins, but enjoyed watching several close passes by the kites, who look set to nest in the area.

With time ticking on I drove to the other extreme of the county, to get my Cliff Swallows foraging at the county boundary over the Tallassee Shoals. En route I lucked out at the Huntingdon Park subdivision pond with my only Blue-winged Teal of the day, and a calling Northern Flicker.

Various stops on the north side of town failed to get me a hooting Great Horned Owl, but Common Nighthawk was easy enough over Lake Herrick. The South Milledge fields, Botanical Garden and Memorial Park came up empty after dark, but I finally managed to clock Barred Owl as my 118th and final species of the day before calling it quits at 10pm.

While I missed some expected species (Osprey and Red-headed Woodpecker were nowhere to be found, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo seems to be very late back this year), I got a few surprise birds, and did better than expected on shorebirds, so I think this total will be challenging to beat unless a future year’s attempt coincides with a fallout (125 seems like the ‘dream’ total to aim for). Of course, one of the first birds I saw the next day was one I couldn’t find on the Big Day – 3 smart Bobolinks at the S Milledge fields!

Late April is the most exciting time for birding in Georgia, thanks to the combination of late-lingering winterers and peak passage of Neotropical migrants. The week started well when James Neves and I observed an Anhinga at the ACC landfill – amazingly, the second Clarke Co. record of the year.

Two days later, Simon Mitchell, Mitchell Jarrett and I found a Lincoln’s Sparrow at the same site. The bird was only on view for 10 seconds, so Simon did very well to snap this documentary photo before it disappeared.

The landfill continues to attract shorebirds, and we got wonderful views of this Wilson’s Snipe foraging in the early morning sunlight.

Most surprising was a mixed waterfowl flock at Lake Herrick consisting of 7 Northern Shoveler, 6 Blue-winged Teal and 5 American Coot.

The first young of the year have already fledged, including this Eastern Phoebe and a Cooper’s Hawk.

While Simon tried to pish out a rarity from the Little Lake, this Downy Woodpecker came in for a close-up view.

Bird of the week has to be the first documented county record of Caspian Tern spotted by Simon at Lake Chapman, bringing my county list to a nice round 220. Only 30 more to go and I’ll be able to hang up my bins!

Last week I made a rare foray outside of Athens-Clarke Co. to meet up with some old birding friends. Joel McNeal and I birded the Bartow Co. loop in the last hour of daylight last Wednesday, and enjoyed close views of the continuing breeding-plumaged American Avocet.

Other highlights included a lone Bank Swallow and 4 fly-by Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at dusk.

The next morning we headed up the famous migration hotspot Kennesaw Mountain. There was decent warbler diversity in the early morning, including most of the species I’ve missed in Athens this spring, namely multiple Blackburnian, Black-throated Green and a single Cerulean Warbler (evidently a thin year for these statewide). Perhaps my best ‘sighting’ of the day was catching up with several dear friends from Yolo Audubon (my old birding group from Davis, CA), who are spending the week touring the state.

Things had quietened down considerably by the time we got to the upper reaches, though we did manage to glimpse Magnolia and Canada Warblers. We also got long, close looks at beautiful Summer Tanagers.

Perhaps our most interesting sightings for Kennesaw were a flyover falcon (probably a Peregrine) and an immature Bald Eagle.

We parted ways over a delicious barbecue lunch – I hope the rest of their trip was a resounding success!