My CRAZY Yard This Spring

When we saw this house 20 years ago, the yard was overgrown but definitely had potential. The house was perfect for us but needed a lot of work. We fixed up the house and the yard over the years. We built a pond with a little stream that attracts birds. We have come to know many backyard bird species over the years and even seen some good migrants come through. A few warblers have stopped by here and there. This year is different. Really different.

First - we had our old sunroom torn down and rebuilt last year. The construction tore up the back yard pretty bad. It has taken some time but we finally have a landscaper trying to make the backyard livable again.

Second - we are in the midst of a global pandemic which is forcing both of us to work from home everyday. Connie has claimed the new sunroom as her makeshift office.

Third - the weather has been wacky. Lots of rain and colder than normal. But it is finally beginning to feel like spring.

I guess those factors all add up to WOW in the yard. It stared last Monday when I spotted this male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the Dogwood tree above the pond.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Later that same day, I saw a bright red streak go across the patio and into the pond. A male Scarlet Tanager taking bath!

Scarlet Tanager

We've had Common Yellow-throats in the yard before. I photographed this one through the window from my office so it is not a great photo. 

Common Yellowthroat

Eastern Kingbirds are birds of open country so imagine my surprise when this bird showed up at the pond on Tuesday morning.

Eastern Kingbird

I looked to the left and spotted this male Baltimore Oriole in the next tree. 

Baltimore Oriole

The funny thing is that I was actually working while all of this was going on. It's a good thing that my coworkers understand my obsession. I had to hang up on a video call when this Chestnut-sided Warbler started splashing around in the pond.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

A Black and White Warbler isn't unusual but he showed up as I was outside watching the other birds, so I snapped a photo. 

Black and White Warbler

Northern Parulas are also a common visitor to our yard. 

Northern Parula

I know this isn't a bird, but it just goes to show how active the yard has been this week. I found a soccer ball in the yard and assumed it belonged to the neighbor so I kicked it into their yard. The next morning, Peanut started barking at the window. Connie and I looked out and saw the neighborhood Fox trotting down the hill. He stopped and to our surprise, he started playing with the ball! 

Soccer!

Bird action slowed down on Thursday and I headed to the shore which was a kind of a bust for birds. We did have a few good birds including this Bay-breasted Warbler at Cox Hall Creek. This is probably the best photo I've been able to get of one. 

Bay-breasted Warbler

Back home and to work today and here come the birds again! Today, I peered outside and to my surprise, another Bay-breasted Warbler in our pond! Unfortunately, I missed the photo. I also missed a photo of a Tennessee Warbler in the pond. I did manage to photograph our resident Blue Jay getting a quick drink. 

Blue Jay

And, the Scarlet Tanager seems to be hanging around the neighborhood. He patiently waited his turn for the pond.

Scarlet Tanager

Our Ruby-throated Hummingbird is making the most of the trumpet honeysuckle. 

Hummingbird

What a week! 

Whales, Condors and Warblers

Todd and I definitely made the most of our trip to California. On our quest to find a few lifers for me, we also came across other birds and sea life. Here are a few follow up photos including these California Sealions on the Monterey Jetty.

California Sealion

And plenty of Humpback Whales. Here is a photo of Pink-footed Shearwater and a whale together.

Pink-footed Shearwater and Humpback Whale

I've seen plenty of Humpback whales but this is the best "fluke" photo that I've ever had. This photo is not cropped. That is how close the whale was to the boat!

Humpback Whale Fluke

Remember, the boat is not allowed to chase the whale. We need to stop at some distance away. This one came really close. Very exciting. We also saw Risso's Dolphins on the trip. You can identify them at a distance because their heads look white. These guys came right at the boat and I was able to snap this shot. He looks like he's smiling for the camera! 

Risso's Dolphin

Back on land, we spent time just driving the roads along the coast, cattle fields and canyons looking for birds. Todd spotted a MacGillivray's warbler but I missed it. They are skulkers and hard to see. Todd is really good at understanding suitable habitat for birds and calling them out by "pishing". I used that information on another day and got to see this MacGillivray's warbler along another road. Ta-da!

MacGillivray's Warbler

Another sweet warbler that we found along the canyon roads was Wilson's warbler. You can easily identify these warblers by the black "yamaka" that they wear on their head. 

WIlson's Warbler

Anna's hummingbirds are common in California. We rarely stopped along the road and didn't see one. Here is a young male perched. You can see his throat patch coming in like a teenaged boy trying to grow a goatee.

Anna's Hummingbird

Back along the coast, we stopped at a beach for a walk. We were treated to this harbor seal basking on the rocks. Look at the waves splashing behind her.

Harbor Seal

We were also able to photograph some beach birds. Black Oystercatchers are the common species on the Pacific coast. Like our Oystercatcher, they have that bright orange bill and flesh toned legs.

Black Oystercatcher

Heerman'g gulls are some of my favorite. I love their muted gray tones. This one is ready to take flight.

Heerman's Gull

This crab was almost lunch for a Western Gull but the bird dropped the crab when he saw us walking up the beach. We snapped a photo before returning the crab to the water.

Purple Shore Crab

All-in-all, a great trip to northern California coast.

The Drought is Over

Our annual trip to Potter County proved to be the hottest and most humid that I can remember. Our camp neighbors told us that they had more rainy days than clear ones in June. The weather didn't dampen our family fun. Our hikes up to the slate quarry were just a tad soggy. The dogs managed to find a porcupine. Luckily the critter scampered up a tree before the dogs caught up to him. That could have been a prickly incident for sure.

Porcupine

Those giant claws allow the porcupine to get up that tree and hang on.

Porcupine

The "drought" in the title doesn't pertain to the weather. It refers to my inability to find Mourning Warblers. They are rare migrants through our area and I haven't been skillful enough to find one on their breeding territory . . . until now! I took a drive up on Nelson Run Road to see if I could find suitable nesting habitat. The field guides say that they prefer dense scrubby habitat. That sounds alot like clear cut logging areas. The loggers put up electric fences to protect the saplings from deer. I pulled up to one and bingo.  I heard a "churree, churree" coming from the scrub just along the fence. To my amazement, this guy popped up.

Mourning Warbler

Mourning warblers are very large for warblers. The ID is based on the gray hood and head with the black patch on the base of the bib.

Mourning Warbler

I was thrilled but couldn't stay much longer or risk being late for dinner. Connie and I returned the next day on our motorcycles to see if the bird would oblige us with another appearance. No luck on our first attempt but we did find one farther down the fence line.

Mourning Warbler

I played the song on my iPhone for a bit to attract him. Some people frown on using a tape to attract the bird. I made the call to play the tape due to 2 factors: First, I'm pretty confident that other birders hadn't been here using tapes before us so the bird wasn't tired of hearing the tape. Second, I only used it for a few minutes and let the resident bird "win" the territory fight that he thought he was in. In other words, the warbler assumes that the tape is another male trying to cut in on his action. Once the tape stops, the resident male assumes that he won the contest and drove the other bird away. Oh, and thirdly, we won't be back to disturb the bird again.

Mourning Warbler

It was a special encounter that we will remember for a long time.

Home Turf Spring Migration

Back at home and N-V-T-S with work but I managed to get out to see a few birds this week before work. I have been walking Peanut at Pennypack lately due to bird migration and the fact that our "Mudhole" is being developed for 62+ housing. The contractor sprayed herbicide last week to kill the vegetation so we stayed away. At Pennypack, we managed to pick out a few golden nuggets including a Hooded Warbler for the second year in a row. Not the best photo but at least I managed to get one. Hooded Warblers are notorious for signing and hiding in plain sight.

Hooded Warbler

Blackpoll Warblers have the reputation of being the last warblers to migrate through in spring. Not this year. I heard and saw many already and migration isn't even in full swing. This guy was singing at the top of a tree in the field.

Early Blackpoll Warbler

Both birds were also seen by the park administrator and another local birder. I met up with them on the trail as they started their day off of birding. The woods were alive with the song of Wood Thrush. They are really active and out in the open this week. Such rich colors.

Handsome Wood Thrush

Wood Thrushes are HUGE compared to their cousin the Veery. This is the first one I've seen this year.

Veery

On our way out of the park, we saw this Red-tailed Hawk with her breakfast. Yummy squirrel. Not a great photo. I didn't want to move closer and scare her off. Sometimes the bird drops the prey when spooked and I didn't want that to happen.

Red-tail and Squirrel

Big shore weekend planned. Hoping for good weather and good birds.

Preview of Things to Come

You know how birds fly south in the fall and then they fly north in the spring? Well it occurred to me that if the birds show up in our are in May, they must be somewhere south of that in April. Sure enough, research and connections at the DVOC showed that going to Florida in April might be a good idea. They were right.

Take the Cape May warbler. It was named by one of the early ornithologists because he shot one in Cape May NJ for a specimen. They next in Canada and winter in Central and South America. They rarely make it to NJ except for fleeting moments. I maybe see 1 each spring and a dozen in the fall. Guess where we found 8 of them this morning? In the Florida Keys at Windley Key Fossil State Park.

Cape May Warbler

They flitted around all morning just a few feet in front of us. We tried to get some good photos but only managed a few. Check out the rusty cheek patch on this guy. He was joined by 6 other males and 1 female. We also spent the morning with our signature bird - Black-throated Blue warbler.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

While these birds are more common in our area, it is still great to spend quality time with one. We saw other warblers too but didn't get any photos for the blog. You have to keep your eyes peeled down here because there are rarities too. I thought I had one with this bird but it turns out to be a browner version of our normal Mockingbird.

Mockingbird

Although the Cape May Warbler may be misnamed, they nailed the name of this creature. Can you guess?

Curlytailed Lizard

I Googled "curly tailed lizard florida". The name of the lizard is actually Curlytailed Lizard!

Lori and I just got here. She booked us a luxury 2 bedrooom/2 bath condo at Hyatt Regency. It has all the amenities including pool, beach, tiki bar and a veranda from which I am writing this blog post. All for the same price as 2 hotel rooms in a regular hotel. Wow.

Out on a Limb

Of all the warblers that we can see in the eastern US, some are pretty common - birds that breed in our area or are conspicuous. Like the Common Yellowthroat. For Pete's sake, it has the word "common" right in the name. Easy to see in spring, summer and fall.

Common Yellowthroat

Others are pretty rare or secretive making those birds a big target for birders. Warblers like Mourning or Connecticut. Finding either of those warblers elicits text messages and alerts. A Swainson's warbler makes ABA Rare bird lists. I've only seen these birds a few times and none this season.

And still others may easier for some birders to see than others. These warblers migrate through each year and plenty of birders see them. Sighting these birds doesn't warrant a text message. Birders talk about the sightings in common conversation. Mostly, these birds either elude me or give me a fleeting look without photo opp. Nashville, Wilson's and Tennessee fall into this category. Tennessee warblers are very bland looking by comparison to Blackburnian or Golden-winged warblers but they have a magic all their own. I regularly miss seeing Tennessee warblers which is why I'm so confused by the past month. So far, I've spotted at least 5 of them. One day, there were even 2 together. I'm going out on a limb with the ID. Maybe the birds are another species? I checked the field guides. Overall green, no markings on the wings, light eyebrow, short tail. I finally got some decent photos after seeing the bird for 3 days in a row. What do you think?

Tennessee Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

I really hope it is a Tennessee warbler or I'm going to be really embarrassed.

Assignment: Warbler

On our annual trip to Connie's family cabin in Potter County, our friend Frank gave me an assignment. He wants photos of all of the birds that are found on Hogback Mountain - the mountain and area surrounding our cabins. He specifically wanted a photo of Hooded Warbler which we hear in the woods all around the mountain. Hooded warblers are easily heard. The male's song is very loud and distinctive however, seeing the bird is challenging. Photographing them is even more difficult since they are a bird of the deep woods with low lighting.

With 4 days to accomplish the task, I set out to photograph Hooded and other warblers. Started slow due to some torrential rain. This Common Yellowthroat was happy when the sun came out.

Common Yellowthroat

I got a bonus with Blackburnian wablers posing for me. Here is one guy who came to investigate me and Peanut right outside of our cabin.

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Here is Yellow-rumped warbler in the pine trees near the house. I forget that these birds nest in Potter County and am pleasantly surprised when I see them flitting around.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Meanwhile, we found another accommodating Blackburnian warbler up at the slate quarry. This time, I used sound recording on my iPhone to draw the bird closer. Here he is looking at me like "you're not an intruding male, why do you sound like one?"

Blackburnian Warbler

Once he checked me out and figured he was safe, he hung around the rocks and picked up a few bugs to munch on.

Blackburnian Warbler

There is a great spot to watch and photograph birds down along the stream. I headed out by myself one morning in hopes of finding a few birds. Luck was on my side. This juvenile Black and White warbler picked bugs in a tree right beside the bridge at eye level.

Black and White Warbler

He didn't care about my presence at all.

Black and White Warbler

He was doing a great job feeding himself.

Black and White Warbler

This Yellow warbler also showed up to feed his baby in the same tree. That baby looks big enough to get her own food.

Yellow Warblers

I ran across this family of American Redstarts at their nest just upstream from the bridge. Here is Mom checking up on the 3 babies.

Female Redstart at nest

Here is Dad feeding one of the babies a big fat insect. Male Redstarts are very colorful with black and orange markings.

Male Redstart at nest

I made great progress with the warblers but struck out on Hooded until our last day. I finally ran across this female at the edge of the path, close enough to photograph.

Female Hooded Warbler

I noticed that she had that big bug in her mouth and sure enough, the baby appeared and screamed to be fed.

Baby Hooded Warbler

Dad was close by keeping an eye on the situation.

Male Hooded Warbler

Finally, assignment accomplished! But that didn't end the photography. I also ran across this baby in the woods.

Fawn

And these Mandarin duck babies at the campground where they are kept as pets. All three are named Daisy.

Daisy

Every year, I wonder why we don't stay longer. (oh yeah, because we have jobs)