Birds are on my mind! There is no better way to start the day then taking a walk in the woods or at a park where it is just me, the birds and my camera. Last week was was pretty quiet. All of the fallout birds we had previously have moved on while no new birds were showing up! High winds toward the end of the week made for very slow birding. Things are starting to pick up as I am finding more first-of-year birds.
I hit my first Warbler wave of the year which included Yellow-rumped, Pine and Black-and-white Warblers; along with high numbers of Blue-headed Vireos and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and one lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
I hear the songs of Ruby-crowned Kinglets everywhere I go. This is a song that I just learned this year and I’ve fallen in love with it – so much that I get their song stuck in my head instead of music…
I found my first Eastern Towhees, Thrashers and Hermit Thrushes. The low foragers are making some noise in the leaves. This Hermit Thrush, however, stayed out in the open.
I still have some Fox Sparrows hanging around.
And the Song Sparrows continue to contribute their tunes.
This afternoon, I heard a House Wren singing so I went to look for him. He hid only for a moment, then popped back up to sing and look around. I think he found a nice spot to settle into.
Another interesting recent sighting were three Northern Flickers on one tree. Two of them were doing a small dance to each other. I did catch a little bit of it on video, but it may be too shaky.
I also had my first Broad-winged Hawk of the year – he flew over my yard! This was yard bird number 96. I am almost at 100!
I am hoping that this week brings in more new arrivals. I really love finding birds before work to start my day off right!