This morning around half past seven I stepped out onto the porch ready to take a walk around our forty acres when I heard an interesting sound that seemed shorebird like. I peered up to lay eyes on about a dozen marbled godwits flying over quite high along with one lesser yellowlegs. It was quite a surprise and a good one; the birds came as my 208th Cook County bird and 124th yard bird. My hike yielded many birds, songbirds in particular. Thousands of sparrows are just covering our land which is pretty open in the back with several stands of forest. I stood still for a moment and I could hardly hear myself think the sound of birds rummaging on the ground was so loud. It's mostly white-throated and chipping sparrows but we also have dozens of white-crowned, a Harris's, a Lincoln's, a few swamp, many savannahs, and tons of song sparrows all inhabiting the yard and the back of our land. There are also many warblers around including many Nashville, black-throated green, blackburnian, Parula, northern waterthrush, ovenbird, black & white, and yellow-rumped warbler. I also heard my first blue-headed vireo at home. This afternoon a yellow-headed blackbird was in the yard and last night a woodcock stopped along the brook meandering through our yard. We have several other fun common birds around including a pair of tree and rough-winged swallows in an old abandon gravel pit in the back as well as a pair of kingfishers. So far its been an exciting spring! Good birding
Josh Watson Grand Marais --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.672 / Virus Database: 434 - Release Date: 4/28/04
