Taking my frustration at the lack of warblers by the throat, I followed up on reports posted on these web services and pursued my goals. Rather than wait for the warblers to show up in my old favorite haunts where I usually expected them - I declared "Road Trip". My field trip to Hok-Si-La and Lake Byllesby on Sunday were more than rewarding - it was delicious! While the birds were not actually everywhere, and they did appear in waves, when we did come upon the warblers they were literally dripping off the trees. While seeing the warblers as Hok-Si-La (man, is that hard for me to type) - the ones listed in Jim Ryan's email - I found myself just giggling with the thrill of each new bird. I was a kid again (as if I ever grew up). While I almost always go birding alone, the company, experience and eyes of Judith Sparrow and Jim Ryan with me enriched the day, the travel, the walking, the spotting and IDing. It was also fun to meet so many additional birders at the park who also followed the invite to see these birds via this service and share stories and spottings - especially with the on-again-off-again appearances. It made the whole day and adventure.
At Lake Byllesby, I finally got to go to the viewing area I have heard so much about and was rewarded by meeting Steve Weston who surely knows his bird and shares his passion. But, boy, those little dots in the spotting scopes turned out to be a host of birds I have never seen before and would like to see a little closer. I was amazed at Steve's dedication to identifying not only the type of bird but counting the numbers - in the hundreds for some - all through a scope and at little dots that moved along the shore (see his most recent emails for lists). I learned a lot from him in that shared time. Plus as a added reward a wave of warblers came in and rounded out my day . My original goal had been to see Magnolia, Chest-nut Sided and Blackburnian warblers to ease my warbler addiction. The trees around the viewing area at Lake Byllesby rounded my list out and added new interest in seeing a bobolink, sedge wren, all of the swallows, and IDing female warblers. I learned to ID them through a process of elimination based on eye-ring, body color and pattern, bill color, wing color and pattern and just keeping at it - figuring out what they weren't and the one left would be the most likely candidate. As for my goal - only the Blackburnian remains elusive. I thank Jim, Judith and Steve for the most rewarding and memorable day of birding this year so far. As for everyone else who is a little frustrated with the migration this year - go out and hunt them down. They are out there if you are up for the challenge - and the pay off is wonderful. Just day "Road Trip!" Thomas Maiello Spring Lake Park
