Hi Tweets:
Got back from a great trip to S Florida and the Dry Tortugas on Apr
14. Part of the trip was w/ a bird guide, part w/ a friend, and
during part of it I was alone. Got home and started being busy, so
haven't figured out my bird list yet. Got a bunch of lifers. The
bird guide (Larry Manfredi) got me 11 lifers in S Florida the first
day we met. I managed to see many warblers on the trip: 23 species!
It would have been 24 but I was hesitant to call some of the numerous
N Waterthrushes Louisiana Waterthrush, even though some other birders
said we were seeing some. They are hard to differentiate and my bird
guide was not there then. I'm calling what I saw Northern
Waterthrush.
Dry Tortugas were great. So was Key West. We came back to Key West
and a day later had a huge thunder storm. After the storm, there was
a small fallout of birds including a male Cerulean Warbler down at eye
level about 12 feet away from us. All right!
This morning, after reading all about Or-crown Warblers falling out of
the sky for the Sullivans I got a fairly early start in the
neighborhood, hoping for migrants. Mainly what I got were lots and
lots of male Brown-headed Cowbirds. Yes, I guess they are migrants
too... We had heard some cowbirds on Saturday at Lake Fenwick (in
Kent, WA) also. At Lake Fenwick we also heard a Pac-slope Flycatcher
for a good comparison of similar bird song. At Lk Fenwick Saturday,
we heard and saw a Hermit Thrush, and heard a Swainson's Thrush doing
a call. Couldn't see the Swainson's though. Warblers were few on
Sat, although we had many Common Yellowthroats. We only heard one
other kind of warbler, a Black-throated Gray Warbler. Wood Ducks were
flying through the trees, and seemed to be looking for a cavity to
nest in.
This morning in DesMoines I heard 3 Orange-crowned Warblers, and one
Black-throated Gray Warbler. I saw but did not hear a Warbling Vireo.
That's a switch...
Breeding Barred Owls are in our woods by DesMoines Creek right now,
and the male owl seems way too interested in my dog on the trail. She
is small and is about the same size as the owl.
Have fun out there w/ the migrants, and may most of your migrants not
be Brown-headed Cowbirds.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines, WA
mailto:linusq at att.net