Mystery Birds

Black Vulture

Turkey Run Park is the third of four parks along Floyd's Fork, part of the Parklands of Floyd's Fork. We started on a trail by the entrance which goes between a big meadow and the river, so there was lots of habitat for different birds. In the early morning, we often find roosts of 10-12 vultures, waiting for the sun to warm things up. Today, however, we only found one Black Vulture sunning himself in a big sycamore tree.

Common Yellowthroat

The Common Yellowthroats were everywhere though! We heard them calling in the grass, we heard them calling in the trees, we heard them calling on the other side of the river. This stud had no fear, and sang from out in the open from a tree right above our heads. It's surprising how many different ways they can sing "witchity, witchity."

Many warblers are bright yellow, so that color always catches my eye, since I hope to add to the list of warblers I can recognize. If you only saw his throat, you might think he was any one of several other kinds of warblers, such as Yellow, Prothonotary, Blue-winged, Kentucky,  Wilsons's, or Chat. Yellow is the color of anticipation.

When he lowers his head, though, you see his dark mask with a white brow above it. They breed all over the lower 48 states, so I guess "common" is appropriate for them. They usually like to stay down in the grass, popping up for a mere instant if something needs to be checked out.

Common Yellowthroat female

This little bird popped up in the old dead stems, and we tried to identify it with no luck. This is one of the reasons I take photos, so we can try to identify them later. It's got yellow- some kind of warbler? Some of them have gray heads. Dick has started reading the Bob White Murder Mystery series by Jan Dunlap. Bob White is a high school guidance counselor who is one of the top birders in Minnesota. The problem is, he keeps finding dead bodies while out looking for birds. He suspects everyone before finally deciding who the killer really is. Fun reading, with a bird list at the end.

Common Yellowthroat female and male

Ah, but in a few minutes, we found her hopping around with a MALE Common Yellowthroat. Sure enough, when we got home and looked it up, we had found a female Common Yellowthroat. Sometimes finding the female of a species is like finding a whole new species.

Great Crested Flycatcher

The Great Crested Flycatcher shouted WHEEP and flew off his perch, displaying beautiful yellow underwings.

Mystery Bird

Not sure what this one is. I've sent the photo to a friend for help. Sometimes a mystery bird turns out to be one I'm familiar with, just facing another angle.

Mystery Bird - flycatcher??

No white on the tip of the tail. Maybe one of those look-alike flycatchers? But I didn't see it doing any flycatching behavior - out and back to the same branch.

Mystery Bird - down turned beak

Well, this one posed nicely. Could it be a female warbler I'll be excited about? Or could it just be a female Goldfinch - I see some wing bars. But the beak is too thin for a Goldfinch I think. Hope my friend gets back to me soon.

Prairie Warbler

All right. This one is definitely a warbler with black stripes, yellow and a small pointy beak. It sat still just long enough for a clear photo, and when we got home we searched all the field guides to determine that it is a Prairie Warbler. We played its song and both said, "We heard that!" Triumph at last on at least one bird!!