Friday, August 12, 2016

Finding an Early Mourning in the Early Morning

On Thursday morning, I went into the Ramble looking for warblers. It was really hot, and when I first searched it, I found nothing. I then went to Azalea Pond, one of the better spots in August. Just as I was about to leave, I saw a warbler fly past me chasing an insect and land in the shrubs bordering the pond. When I got a look at it, I was about to dismiss it as a Common Yellowthroat, but I noticed that it had a lot more yellow, and a broken eye ring. It then faintly sang and I realized this was a MOURNING WARBLER! They usually show up later in August, and they are really hard to find because they usually don't sing. According to eBird, this is the earliest record of one in fall. Anyway, birds started to show up while I was watching the Mourning Warbler, which were a Black-and-White Warbler, a Northern Waterthrush, and a few American Redstarts. Other than that nice pocket of diversity, I didn't see much other than more redstarts and some Baltimore Orioles. A good early August day, despite the humidity.

26 species seen/heard, including..

MOURNING WARBLER (Immature male at Azalea Pond)
Black-and-White Warbler (Azalea Pond)
American Redstart (Several)
Northern Waterthrush (Azalea Pond)
Eastern Kingbird (Heard at Gill and Turtle Pond, not seen)
Warbling Vireo (Heard)
White-Breasted Nuthatch (Heard)
Baltimore Oriole (4)
American Crow (Flyover of 13)
Red-Tailed Hawk (Near Boathouse)
Great Egret (Turtle Pond)


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