A report of a probable Connecticut Warbler seen on the trail yesterday was posted on the Monticello Bird Club group site, so I headed off this morning to see if I could find and verify the warbler. Under mostly cloudy and a little bit of drizzle at times, I did have a good birding morning seeing 34 species, but did not see a Connecticut Warbler.
Flicker and Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch showing mixed breeding and winter plumage
Swamp Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Pileated Woodpecker
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler - yellow sub-species
Palm Warbler - western sub-species
Nashville Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Nashville Warbler
I hiked Glenthorne Loop along the east side of Reids Creek, and when I crossed the second wooden bridge to the west side, there was a lot of activity in the field in front of me. A Red-tailed Hawk had just caught a small rodent and was being mobbed by Crows, a flock of about 20 Rock Pigeons were in the field, along with a flock of 30 to 50 Starlings, and a flock of about 10 Eastern Meadowlarks.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Starlings
Eastern Meadowlarks
Palm Warbler and Carolina Wren. "So, did you hear the one about the cat and the dog . . ."
On my return hike to the kiosk, I once again saw a Red-tailed Hawk -this is the one with the strong white bars on its back.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
When I got back to the kiosk I noticed that an Orbweaver was spinning a very large web that was covering the birding section of the kiosk. The web had to go.
Orbweaver
This morning's list (34 species):
American Crow Starling Turkey Vulture Black Vulture Eastern Phoebe Eastern Bluebird Blue Jay Cedar Waxwing Belted Kingfisher Eastern Meadowlark Catbird Field Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Eastern Towhee Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Tufted Titmouse Northern Mockingbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Flicker American Goldfinch Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Palm Warbler Nashville Warbler Ruby-crowned Kinglet Red-tailed Hawk |