No matter how many springs I live through, this time of year is always pretty special. The turnover from day to day is pretty impressive. This quiet spring has been pretty frustrating, but this morning I heard from Jay that Walnut Woods SP (Polk) was pretty alive last evening so I headed that direction. I pretty much did the same route as I had done Sunday hitting Walnut Woods and Maffitt Reservoir. Other than Tennessees, the migrants were still pretty quiet but at least the locals are starting to sound off. Although Maffitt still had a decent number of Yellow-rumps, numbers were matched by American Redstarts and Yellow Warblers. All in all, I found 14 species of warblers today without working too hard at it. Least Flycatchers were numerous and were joined by one FOY Alder.
We are all pretty aware of the influx of western vagrants reported this spring, but I found it odd to find small flocks of Harris' Sparrows in nearly every edge. I wonder if their normal migration pattern has been pushed a bit to the east. Ann Johnson Norwalk --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
