May 19, 2011

Mild, very misty

This afternoon I decided to head to Mount Auburn, since weather like this usually means a frenzy of birds to observe.  It generally doesn’t really make for great photographing, but I figured I’d give that a shot too.  I’ve been sticking around the Dell, since I have had a ton of luck there so far.  The first thing I noticed was the sound of several Wood Thrushes singing, I spotted one in the underbrush on one the high-sides of the dell.  Walking along the path that goes around the high side of the dell I came across an Ovenbird, actually several.   They were flying to the path and back into the underbrush, and then down into the dell.  As I carried on I also ran across one of the omni-present Yellow-Rumped Warblers.  The dell on this day reminded me of when I was a little kid and I’d wake up early in the morning, before the sun rose.  Over the dike where the forest grew on the flood plain was a deafening racket from the birds that made it sound like a jungle.   I always wanted to go over that way and see what kind of birds were there.  On this day the dell was that raucous, and I could hear Ovenbirds, Warblers, Thrushes, and all sorts of birds screaming. 

I decided to descend into the dell, and there I saw a couple of Gray Catbirds, a male Northern Cardinal, and a White-Throated Sparrow mucking about.  I also spotted another Black-Throated Green Warbler.  For a bird I had never seen before this past week they’re quickly becoming one of my most expected and common sightings.   Also down on the lower levels of the Dell was a Northern Parula Warbler, also becoming a regular on my list.  I was never great with my Warblers until recently, fortunately there were a few experts here earlier in the season and I was able to finally identify a lot more of the Warblers I was seeing.  I met someone coming from the opposite side of the Dell who had seen a Canada Warbler, but I never got a chance to spot it this day.  

I left the Dell for a while and ran into a Black & White Warbler hopping about in the top of a fruit tree, and also saw a Scarlet Tanager, which once again evaded my attempts to take some decent photographs of it.  This bird is vexing me.   Returning to the Dell I spotted an Ovenbird, and my first Magnolia Warbler of the season, always a welcome site.  

I took a few pictures, but honestly with the conditions they did not turn out great by any stretch of the imagination.