Fun Around the Neighborhood Ponds

This afternoon, Dan and I were alerted to an unusual bird at the pond next to Jaguar rail. We headed over and found a Black-crowned Night Heron!

This cool bird winters along the southern Atlantic coast and further south to Central America. There is a chance that her could find a mate here and possibly breed and nest in the cattails at Fairview Park.

And speaking of Fairview Park...we found this summer resident walking along the rocky ledge:

This is the Spotted Sandpiper. The most common of the sandpipers. They could potentially breed in the Fairview Park area, most likely in the large area of cattails over the berm near the office towers.

There was a lot of Red-winged Blackbird activity around the pond and over the berm in the cattails. We were holing to see evidence of nest building or food carrying. A female red-winged blackbird scolded us from a tree after flying from the cattails when we walked past.

There is every chance these birds breed here but we need to continue observing to get conclusive evidence. Until then we will enjoy these lovely birds around the pond.

The Bay-breasted Warbler

This morning in Luria Park I saw the Bay-breasted Warbler which is an uncommon warbler. He winters in northern South America, flies along the eastern Central American and Mexican coast, goes up the US Atlantic flyway and doesn't stop to breed until it arrives in northern Canada. I was thrilled to see him in our park and to get a few half-way decent shots before he flew away.

May 6 Was Migratory Bird Mania In Luria Park

Dan and I spent two hours in Luria Park around lunch time today (May 6th) and were rewarded with lots of migratory birds! The recent cold front most likely brought them in and we were thrilled to see so many. Here are the highlights:

 Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Black-throated Green Warbler.

 Blackburnian Warbler.

 Chestnut-sided Warbler.

 Indigo Bunting (seen on our Brad Street backyard).

 Magnolia Warbler.

 Northern Waterthrush.

Wood Thrush.

Take your binoculars into the park, look for something moving in the trees, and take a look. You never know what you may see! These feathery jewels are amazing, don't you think so?

Spring Migration is in Full Swing!

Hello!

Luria Park and our backyard on Brad Street have given us lots of spring/summer birds!

The highlight was a Cape May Warbler seen at the Luria Park playground on May 2, about 9:30 oin the morning.

This warbler is small, very active, and has a distinctive rusty swath beneath the eye. It winters in Cuba and breeds in northern Canada.

This is a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak at the sunflower seed feeder in our backyard. Her plumage is quite drab compared to her male counterpart.

This stealthy fellow is the Common Yellow-throat. His song is a "witchety-witchety-witchety" song and he prefers the cover of undergrowth. He was in Luria Park near the creek.

This little brown fellow is the House Wren. Small and mighty, this bird was pulling nest fluff from a previous nest only to transfer it across the backyard to another birdhouse!

A Red-shouldered Hawk was tending to her chick on a nest deep in Luria Park. This is the second year these raptors have made a home in our park.

An American Crow was taking a drink from our birdbath before gathering a twig and taking it high to the top of white pine tree on Brad Street where it was building a nest. Love 'em or hate 'em, crows will keep a street clean of squirrels and other critters that lost the battle with car traffic.

This stout fellow is a male Brown-headed Cowbird. I call him "Mr. Nasty" as cowbirds will ruthlessly rob other bird's nests.

Another migratory bird, is the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, see high on a maple tree off of the Luria Park baordwalk. He's a larger bird, bigger than a robin, and winters in Mexico and Central America. They could potentially breed here.

Happy Spring!