I went looking for migrants in Sapsucker Woods on Thursday morning. I saw only a few, but they were all somewhat surprising.
* A splendid male PINE WARBLER in the pines and a neighboring larch by the bench and arbor south of the Lab building. I had walked right past but then turned around because I heard this bird's distinctive sharp chipping, which had me wondering first whether it was a phoebe (too complex), or even a chipmunk (not loud enough). Then I had a long look at the bird in direct sunlight, not too high. It was the most brilliantly yellow Pine Warbler I've ever seen. * Two OVENBIRDS together near the first split on the Wilson Trail North. At first, one bird was on each side of the lower trail. Then I caught one Ovenbird's eye, whereupon it started walking back and forth on fallen branches and chipping like crazy. The other bird started chipping in reply (I hadn't noticed it till then) and eventually joined the first, allowing me to see both in one binocular view. I like to think that these birds were siblings with a mother-approved pact to help each other out all the way to the tropics. * A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW under the power lines on the Dryden side. I thought that this bird might pull off a shocking upset, outnumbering the Song Sparrows here 1-0, but alas, I ended up finding a few of the latter species by the little lawn along the road. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
