BIrding by Plan or by Chance?

eBird Mobile App

In returning to life as an active birder this spring, I am doing things a bit differently. I have finally started using all the electronic and internet resources which I did not want to bother with before.  Many of my friends have used the eBird mobile app on their phones for years. You download the bird list for the area you bird in (it works with or without internet access in the field), and as you locate a bird, you enter how many and the species. It tracks your location by the phone GPS, and records where, how long and the distance of your birding trip. You can review it before submitting, and it's easy to add your data to an existing HotSpot. People who start with this method from the beginning have their entire life list in one place. You can research HotSpots in your locality, or somewhere else when you go on vacation, for example. There is an online tutorial, which made this easier (and faster) than I thought it would be.

Birdcast.info migration map

The second planning tool I have discovered is the BirdCast migration maps. Birds migrate at night for the most part, and they show up on the weather radar. These maps can help you see how the migration is progressing, and from which direction. It does not tell you which species are involved. But it's really cool to see the map turn yellow on the night before you plan to go out.

Bluebird

So this morning we planned to go to Pope Lick Park. (Wendy's was still making coffee at 7:45, and I finally left without it.) One section has lots of Bluebird boxes, and we expected to get lots of terrific Bluebird photos. The Bluebirds thought otherwise though, and we saw fewer than expected.

American Goldfinch

The Goldfinches, on the other hand were everywhere!

Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting eating bug

Last Saturday, we saw one Indigo Bunting, and debated whether it was a Blue Grosbeak not not. Today these dark blue birds were around every corner (so to speak). Hmm, I don't recall seeing any females however, so the boys may have been staking out territories since they do breed here.

Yellow-throated Warbler

Saturday, we were out with the warbler queens of Kentucky, and saw more species of warbler than I would have found myself, and today we were on our own, so the warbler count wasn't very high. I thought this was the very common Yellow-rumped Warbler, but on examining the photo, decided it was actually the Yellow-throated Warbler. When most warblers have yellow feathers to some degree, it's a challenge to come up with names for them!

Prothonotary Warbler

 We found the bright yellow Prothonotary just where it should be - near a decaying tree along the edge of the river. I didn't get a photo of it, so will use one we took 10 years ago at Magee Marsh instead. That name Protonotary? High papal officials at the Vatican used to wear bright yellow robes, and they were called "prothonotary" clerks.

Yellow-breasted Chat

You wouldn't think a Yellow-breasted Chat was a warbler at all. It's larger than most of them, and sings a series of croaks, whistles and short repeated phrases, unlike the typical warbler. We found 4 or 5 of them today, the first I've seen for several years.

Common Yellowthroat

Now you are starting to see the issue with warbler names. This one is just a Common Yellowthroat, which irritates my husband. He doesn't think any bird should be insulted by being called "common."

Great Crested Flycatcher

Looking at this bird in the trees above, you would expect it to be a warbler, given the yellow belly it has, but the loud "Wheep" is the clue that it is a Great Crested Flycatcher, one of the few flycatchers I can actually identify.

Great Brown-tailed UPS Bird

These Great Brown-tailed UPS Birds are pretty easy to find in this area.

Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee usually likes to stay secluded in the shady undergrowth of the woods. It tells everyone to "drink your tea," so it's easy to identify whether you can see it or not. But this fellow came out to challenge us to a duel when we played his song back from my phone. The adults have red eyes!

Song Sparrow with worm

This time of year, there are lots of little caterpillars under the new leaves, and the birds are there to take care of them. Please don't use pesticides, let the birds do their jobs safely.

House Wren

 House Wrens have a well deserved reputation for taking over nest boxes intended for other species, such as Bluebirds. They will even put unused nesting sticks in neighboring boxes to keep them from being used.

Brown Thrasher

One of the first birds we heard this morning, was this Brown Thrasher singing from the bushes along the sidewalk. We tried to get it to come out and talk to us (they sing steadily for long periods), but he just decided to stalk us instead after we gave up. Three hours later, as we staggered back to the car, he was still in the same area. After searching the bushes, we finally found him teed up at the top of the tallest tree in that area, laughing at us! Well, we got over 11,000 steps this morning and 35 species, so were glad to go home. Between Dick's arthritic knee, and my arthritic foot, we're not as energetic as we used to be. And who can say how many birds we found by plan, and how many by chance!