And My First 3 Warblers Of Spring Are.....

This Saturday, I met up with a friend from the Hartford Audubon to show him a few of my favorite local birding spots. Our first stop was at the Portland Fairgrounds where we found a flock of Wilson's Snipe sitting silently in the wet grass along side the skating pond. Some of the other species we found here included a Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Belted kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbirds, Rough-winged Swallows and Tree Swallows .

We visited several other locations but our best moments came on one of the dirt roads in the Meshomasic Forest. I rarely see birds reported at this location but there are plenty of birds to be seen in this forest, especially during Spring Migration. As we were driving along the dirt roads we spotted an Eastern Phoebe that had made itself at home next to a small stream. After seeing what seems to be an endless supply of robins it was a real treat to see another thrush, the Hermit Thrush, standing silently on the ground amongst a patch of leaves.

What I was really hoping to see was the first warblers of the Spring Migration. Each new species of warbler that I see in April is an individual event. They have been gone for a year and I look forward to seeing each new species of warbler one by one.

And the first three species of warbler that I saw in the Spring of 2009 are--drumroll please..........

Palm Warbler-I saw eight Palm Warblers at the Portland Reservoir on Sunday. They moved as a group in the lower branches making soft trills and chip notes all the while wagging their tails.

Pine Warbler-I hear quite a few of them hiding in the pines but only had a good view of one that perched at the top of a tree for a few seconds. Every year I have to remind myself of the difference between the sound of a Chipping Sparrow and the Pine Warbler.

Louisiana Waterthrush -This was the birding highlight of my weekend. I hear the waterthrush singing before I even parked my truck. We we able to locate the area from which the bird was singing then managed to call it out with an Ipod. It landed on a branch just ten feet from us and put on a great singing display. It gave us wonderful views although the lighting was not favorable for taking pictures or video. If you click on the April 2008 post titled Camping And Birding In Kent Connecticut, you will find two videos that feature the Louisiana Waterthrush singing.

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I had much better luck capturing this video of this Palm Warbler. It repeatedly fluffed its feathers out as it preened. Actually the word fluffing probably isn't a good description. It seemed much more dramatic than that.

I visited this heronry (undisclosed location) and tried counting the nests. I gave up after tallying 100 nests when I realized that many of them weren't within my view. I decided to start using the word heronry as opposed to heron Rookery after reading this post from the Body Soul and Spirit blog. I came across a small flock of Cedar Waxwings in Wangunk Meadows.It seems they were lining up on a branch to have their picture taken. They didn't seem to be very camera shy. Are they proud of the way they look or maybe just a little drunk on berries?

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If you listen closely you can hear the high pitched bzeee notes of the waxwings. They make one last alarm call before flying off in search of another worthy branch upon which to form their magic line.

Have you seen your first warblers of spring yet?