First sightings May 3:
- Black and White Warbler.
- Barn swallow
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
That day we also listed the Song Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warblers aplenty and, yawn, a grackle. In addition to the numerous red-winged blackbirds.
First sighting May 10:
- Great Blue Heron (four times, it was almost like he was chilling with us!)
Also seen (by me) for the first time: the splendid, spiffy Black-throated Blue Warbler. He had a girlfriend. As we walked North they were keeping pace with us as they fed on the bugs.
Other sightings: yellow warbler (m & f), ruby-crowned kinglet, and what I think was a chipping swallow on the grass (rusty crown, dark eye-line, and quiet), but my Spotter doesn’t agree. The female red-winged blackbirds, in noisy abundance, must have been finishing nests – one didn’t like me approaching what must have been her nest to get a view of the lower “lake.” She put on quite a display of tail feathers. Pity I didn’t bring my camera today. I left my viewing point to her, but not before seeing the Great Blue Heron, disturbed by my Spotter walking by the nearby shore, wing over my head. We saw him three more times. The swallows were swooping over the upper lake, still here. There was one lone cormorant today. They usually move on further north.
Our Magnolia is still in full bloom. The blooms usually get hammered by the rain and fall soon after it blooms properly, but not this year. And perhaps the cold weather, with no frost, has helped preserve them.
A few more photos:
mightyturk 