I took a quick spin through the Bass Ponds in Bloomington this morning. The fifth species I heard singing once I got downhill of that noisy building near the 86th Street parking lot was a Connecticut Warbler. It was constantly on the move, but at one point I got to hear that bright, choppy, very loud WIT-cher, WIT-ta-wit-a, WIT-ta-wit-a, WIT! from a distance of about 20 feet. It fell quiet at 6:10 AM and didn't make another peep in the 30 minutes I waited.
While I was standing there, a Catharus thrush (def. not Wood Thrush) came out and foraged in the litter about 50 feet downhill. I'm stumped as to which one it was. It made no sound, didn't do any tail-raising, and remained in dark shadow. It was heavily spotted underneath a la typical Swainson's/Hermit/Gray-cheeked, and I couldn't see any color difference between back and tail; in the shadows, all upper color appeared dark gray-brown. The face could have been any of them--faint eye-ring, some paler coloration on lower cheek/malar area. I'm guessing Swainson's but it's not going on my list beyond genus. Is anyone else in S. MN still seeing migrant Catharus, and which ones? Onward to the bottom of the hill and around Big Bass Pond. A few huge Green Frogs calling and hanging in the water; Eastern Wood-Pewee and Least Flycatcher uphill in the woods, and both Alder and Willow Flycatcher songs near the wooden bridge. Willow came from the willows(!) in Big Bass Pond, and two Alder sang south of the trail. The trail between Hog Back Pond and Hog Back Marsh had some goldfinches and Song Sparrows foraging; with them was one Savannah Sparrow with its short tail, sandy coloration, yellow brow, and white crown stripe. Does Savannah nest in this part of the Refuge? Doesn't look like the right habitat to me. I saw some migrants here a month ago, but haven't seen or heard this species here between then and now. In the short time I was out, I didn't see or hear any migrant warblers besides Tennessee. Chris ===== Chris Mansfield Richfield, Hennepin Co. MN [email protected] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com
