Field Notes: More Neighborhood Birding

I really must be boring my nonexistent readers with talk of my neighborhood. After all, I'm the only one who really birds the place. But I'm so proud of it, too! I'm also starting to shamelessly copy 10,000 Birds on bolding the species names- every bird is important!

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

After school I decided to go for a walk. Little did I know it would pay off with some good birds!

Normally I start at the soccer fields, which are across the street from the trails. I like to pick up Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, and maybe a few sparrows from the adjacent field. The shrieks of a Blue Jay made me look up and gasp! A Merlin flew over! I snapped a lot of pictures (but the SD card will not cooperate, so you'll have to wait) which confirmed that this was not a Cooper's or Sharpie- those wings are pointed alright. Overly pointed. The bird didn't stop and continued flying southward. What luck!

Next I checked out the field; nothing too special other than a female American Redstart. I walked into the greenway and was greeted by a bright Magnolia Warbler in a privet bush. More redstarts flitted and fanned but apparently this wasn't all. A Red-tailed Hawk zoomed over my head, screaming. Woodpeckers abounded with a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Noisy, too! It had rained earlier so there was many puddles and mud.

I finally hit something interesting- two handsome male warblers, a Black-throated Blue and a late Hooded Warbler. Both gave me amazing looks, with the Hooded landing within feet of me! Hoodeds are my favorite warblers, hands down. They're stunning and beautiful, with a beautiful song and interesting habits. It's funny, I've never seen a female Hooded before, only males. Maybe this is why?

Peek-a-boo!

The Black-throated Blue gave me some of the best pictures I've ever gotten on the species, too.

Later on I found First-of-Season Palm Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Near the end I heard some Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and found another lifer- a male Black-throated Green Warbler! He was up in an oak.