Prairie Warbler

Yup. This morning in the south field while I was pishing in several Indigo's and a Carolina Wren, a young PRAW showed up. It was skittish at eye level in the depths of a thicket of young maples and lilacs along the edge of the field. It didn't stay long, but the beauty of its presence was indelible. The bird was a gorgeous complete bright yellow on its under side that infused into olive on its upper. The undertone of yellow was especially pronounced in its wing bars and the facial area. The beginnings of black streaking along its sides and flanks was evident, as well. From above it even obliged by spreading its pumping tail to show me two and a half fully white outer tail feathers. 143/171.

I'll take quality over quantity any day.

It's bath time

So what is it, like September 10th right now?

Finally some nocturnal listening

From 5:00AM to 5:40AM I tried for VEER, YBCU (both still life yardbirds), and other early fall nocturnal migrants but had none. The Perseids, however, were incredible- some of the brightest shooting starts I've ever seen. I suspect within a short time we will begin having decent nightflights- perhaps with the cooling weather we are due for?

Typical August AM photos

Nothing new to report unfortunately, but figured I'd share a couple of photos from Monday's watch overlooking the pond...Still no NECO but the DCCO numbers are averaging in the 70s now.
Not one but four adult BCNH around the pond in the am. Always a cool bird. The water level is way too high for shorebirds unfortunately. I had LEYE and SOSA here last August when we were checking out the apartments...

Upland Sandpiper....

Here's a follow-up to Caleb's non sequitur.....

During three nights (5-7Aug) of loon whispering in the Northern Lower Peninsula I had a UPSA on each nigh giving flight calls... (a short rolling trill).

I mention this because I know how much Caleb likes sleeping on his roof and nobody has this as a yardbird.

I was going to title this mornings offering Bobo-"zink" (143) to commemorate the one this morning flying over the Portage Cattail Monoculture (PCM) but if this blog is going to lose focus I'm not one to flight a trend; I'll send a bird list soon of species I saw in the vicinity of my tent on my 1998 trip to Madagascar.

otherwise quiet out there.....

Is it just me...

or is this one of the most astounding summer warbler records for OH you've heard of? http://www.bsbobird.org/ (about 1 page length down from top of page, in right column). WHAT is this bird doing down there that time of year?

Its been a couple years....

....since this species has visited the yard, but its the first one ever in the fall. (The last time it was here it was in the company of a KEWA.) Several bursts of song this morning and loud, metallic chip notes alerted us to its presence, but it wasn't until this evening that it announced itself at the water feature and made itself visible. This is #142, Swampy. Tied again.

For the record, a new lifer for the yard sailed through on Sunday. #141/170 was a female NOHA slowly rising on thermals over the south field.

Century Club!

Well the Haas Tract hit a hundred birds today. Just imagine my surprise as I walked into the kitchen, only to see an adult male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER hanging off the screen! I know, not quite a BTYW out the office, but good enough for the girls I date! Well this of course meant I needed to spend the rest of the evening birding in the yard, and I am glad I did. In addition to the Golden-wing (a great bird on Lake Superior, to put it into context, I have never seen this species at Whitefish Point, and they are a VERY uncommon and localized breeder in MQT County), I got a 2nd brand new, all-time yard bird in the form of a flyover AMERICAN BITTERN!

From there, passerine birding was great this evening. Quite the warbler flock spent the evening foraging and included many, many Nashville's, a couple each of Tennessee, Cape May, American Redstart, and Myrtle Warblers, as well as 3 Scarlet Tanagers (another very uncommon bird for my house), RB Grosbeaks, RT Hummers, lots of Purple & Goldfinches, both Red-eyed & Warbling Vireo (the later only my 3rd or 4th ever for the Haas Tract!), and 10+ Common Nighthawks migrating over.

And there is still so much more to come!

Fall Warbler War is on- want to know why?

I have no idea why this bird is present at my latitude at this time of year (this is at least 2-3 weeks earlier than I've ever had it down here in late summer) but this Bay-breasted Warbler just visited my bath:
which begs the question: why is the warbler war not on, loozas? So I am taking the initiative and declaring it ON! Here are my suggested rule changes from previous runs:

1) no real-time point removal by the 2nd person to get a species. Those who get the bird first get 2 points which cannot be removed (in yellow on the spreadsheet). Those who get is second get 1 point (green on spreadsheet). At the end of the season, anybody with a species that no one else recorded in their region gets an extra bonus point at that time.
2) date range=Jul 15-Nov 10.
3) Hussey gets to count all Old-world warblers (Phylloscopus, Sylvia, Acrocephalus, Locustella, etc.), even though they're not the same as Parulids.

Anybody got a problem with that? If so you can talk to my friend Tommy (last name Gun).

Tennessee, Tennessee aint no place I'd rather be....

If you know what the title pertains to I'm impressed, if not it's just my way of boasting that trickle down is still in play (#141) and hopefully this change for pole position is the last for the "season".

Big Rig - keep you sunny side down and your rubber side U.P.!

Suck on this (Dendroica) pinus, Fitzy

Don't know whether this is a local post-breeding dispersal, or an actual migrant, but I was just shocked to see that the little brown streaked bird coming down to the water feature was not a juvenile House Finch, but instead a Dendroica with a yellowish head and breast. My first thought went to female/juv Blackpoll, but of course given the time of year and other field marks I immediately realized it was an adult male Pine Warbler, a long-awaited life yard bird (136/119). Unfortunately it bolted prior to my photographing it, and I was unable to track it down outside despite hearing it (also surprisingly) sing 3 times before I lost it. If it returns I will try to get a photo and post it.

And in case you didn't notice, Fitz-bew, you are now back behind me by one bird for the life competition...

Welcome back CARW!

This a.m. I woke to my 21mo old screaming, but it did not drown out the cheery downslurred trills a Carolina Wren in my backyard! I've not had that bird here in well over a year and was glad to have it back. I hope it sticks, although I fear it's a wandering bird.
Then, to my delight, I looked at the google doc list for this year and realized my totals were off by a few. I scanned all that were ticked on my list and all were legit so my total on the blog page jumped few. Then, the CARW made me surpass Skye....WOOOHOOO! I have a feeling if I'm to stay there I'm going to have to keep on my toes as Skye has some holes to fill yet as fall migration starts.