It was a cold, rainy morning, so I slept in and didn't really go birding until after lunch. Nothing of note all day besides a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (finally here..). I did score patch lifer Trumpeter Swan down my road though.
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Yard yearlist total at May 11th - 101
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- May 12
Another day of north wind and no new migrants.. a walk down to Kiah's Marsh turned up a Wood Thrush, but that was about it..
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- May 13
Some improvement on the migration front! Even though the wind was north overnight, it was very light so there was still some nocturnal migration happening. Being hopeful, I was up and out in the yard at 6:00am to look for new arrivals. It was a chilly morning (-4°C when I went outside), so it was a long wait for the sun to climb over the treeline to warm me up. The birding was quite slow, but I managed to get 41 species before 8:00am. Highlights were;
- Common Merganser
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Common Loon
- Merlin
- Bobolink
- Rusty Blackbird
- Orchard Oriole
The star of the morning was definitely a Male Orchard Oriole, which was a yard lifer and also new for my 5MR. It flew in, checked out the hummingbird feeder, then flew off again, so I was lucky to have seen him.
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| - Orchard Oriole |
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Bobolink
- Orchard Oriole
- Nashville Warbler
Yard yearlist total at May 13th - 104
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- May 14
Finally some south wind! After a few weeks of suffering cold temps and N wind associated with the polar vortex, the flood gates are beginning to open. I awoke at 5:30am, grabbed my gear and went out in my yard.. The birding wasn't overwhelming, but I had a steady stream of FOY birds all morning. By 8:30, I was up to 66 species! Not a bad morning at all. Some highlights below..
- 1 Hooded Merganser
- 1 Greater Yellowlegs
- 10 Common Loons
- 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
- 2 Great Horned Owls
- 1 Red-headed Woodpecker! (only my 2nd yard record of this species)
- 2 Least Flycatchers
- 1 Warbling Vireo
- 1 Gray Catbird
- 1 Veery
- 1 Wood Thrush
- 1 Savannah Sparrow (surprisingly rare in the yard)
- 9 Bobolinks
- 4 Baltimore Orioles
- 1 Rusty Blackbird
- 2 Cape May Warblers
- 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
- 4 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Morning flight was fairly quite besides Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers (probably 150 flyover warbs total).
Some pics..
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| - Baltimore Oriole |
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| - Cape May Warbler |
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| - Savannah Sparrow |
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| - Least Flycatcher |
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| - Red-headedWoodpecker |
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| - Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
In the afternoon some shorebirds were reported just down the road from me at Isaac Lake, so I zipped down and scored a few yearbirds (Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper and Dunlin). Also had this sweet Blackburian Warbler down the road from me on my way home.
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| - Blackburnian Warbler |
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New additions to yard yearlist (14!);
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Least Flycatcher
- Gray Catbird
- Veery
- Wood Thrush
- Savannah Sparrow
- Baltimore Oriole
- Cape May Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Common Yellow-throated
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Yard yearlist total at May 14th - 118
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- May 15
Up and birding @ 6:00am, but sadly it wasn't very productive. No FOY, but the Red-headed Woodpecker was still around. Just going to link my eBird list below...
Not much else of note during the previous day, but I did have a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Kiah's Marsh (2nd 5MR record)
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- May 16
Another 6:00am morning, luckily much birdier than the previous day (would have fallen asleep otherwise). The weather was also nicer than the 15th, 8°C and sunny, which made standing outside for a few hours more enjoyable. I finished my morning at 51 species, not bad!.
Highlights were;
- 2 Common Loons
- 1 American Bittern
- 1 Peregrine Falcon
- 1 Cliff Swallow (Yard lifer!)
- 5 American Pipits
- 11 Bobolinks
- 2 Rusty Blackbirds
- 1 Indigo Bunting
Some pics from my morning birding
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| - Peregrine Falcon |
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| - bad photo of the Cliff Swallow |
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| - American Pipit |
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| - indigo Bunting |
In the afternoon I had a rather strange bird experience. I was just out in my yard, minding my own business, when a Vesper Sparrow dropped out of the sky and landed on my lawn. It then hopped up to my shoe, too close for my camera to even focus! Vesper is a tough bird to get in my yard (3rd record), so I was quite happy to nail it for the yearlist.
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| - Vesper Sparrow |
The day ended with flyover Cedar Waxings and a Great Black-backed Gull, not a bad end to a fun day of birding!
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Cliff Swallow
- Cedar Waxwing
- American Pipit
- Vesper Sparrow
- Indigo Bunting
Yard yearlist total at May 16th - 123
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- May 17
There was east/southeast overnight, so I was hoping for some new birds. I headed out around 5:40am and birded the yard until 9:00am, ending up with a solid list of 63 species (8 yard FOY). It was overcast all morning, so I didn't get many good photos..
Highlights listed below;
- 1 Wilson's Snipe
- 2 Eastern Wood-pewees
- 1 Great Crested Flycatcher
- 1 Yellow-throated Vireo (Yard lifer! On a roll with yard lifers.. 3 in the last week.)
- 1 Brown Thrasher
- 1 Wood Thrush
- 8 Bobolinks
- 3 Rusty Blackbirds
- 1 Tennessee Warbler
- 3 Cape May Warblers
- 1 Magnolia Warbler
- 1 Blackburnian Warbler
- 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
- 1 Pine Warbler
Pictures of the birds..
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| - Yellow-throated Vireo |
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| - YTVI |
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| - Cape May Warbler |
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| - Nashville Warbler |
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Eastern Wood-pewee
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Yellow-throated Vireo
- Tennessee Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yard yearlist total at May 17th - 130
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That's it for now! The next week should be cray cray, so stay tuned for more posts.
Checklist of the week - easily this one https://ebird.org/checklist/S69022165
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