I had not planned on going birding this morning. Rain showers during the night, heavy cloud cover, and the low fog hung between the mountain ridges like ribbons of fluffy cotton. Southerly winds had brought warmer temperatures and higher humidity, but there was no breeze this morning, and my glasses kept fogging up. But I decided to go to the trail anyway, and I am glad that I did. I switched to a shorter focal length and faster camera lens, so that even in the darkened skies of early morning I might get a few photos.
I arrived at the trail at 8:30, and the fog had barely lifted by the time I left at 11:00, but I had logged 40 species on the trail, including four vireo and six warbler species. And the monarch butterflies have started to arrive on the trail. I needed to see cooperative birds, as most of the photos of birds that were up in the trees or at a distance were very foggy, and many birds were only seen as silhouettes against the foggy gray sky.
Downy Woodpecker
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Great Blue Heron
American Kestrel on the upstream trail
Eastern Meadowlark, Rock Pigeons, and Starlings
Monarch butterfly
Almost all of the warblers and vireos were seen either near the Yellow Bird Thicket on the Glenthorne Loop trail, or near the benches on the upstream trail. I heard a White-eyed Vireo and got a couple of poor quality photos of American Redstarts. The photos shown here are a bit grainy, but given the conditions, are good enough to post.
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Common Yellowthroat
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Canada Warbler
Canada Warbler
Canada Warbler
The last series of photos is of a tough bird species to identify. In the field I thought it was a vireo, but its yellow back and breast were unfamiliar to me. Perhaps it was a Philadelphia Vireo because of the yellow breast, but the back looked strange to me. After looking at the photos on my computer, I now think that it was a very light colored Tennessee Warbler because of the white undertail coverts. My warbler reference states that the Tennessee Warbler can be confused with Philadelphia Vireos. Other opinions are welcomed.
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
This morning's list:
Indigo Bunting American Crow Catbird Starling Song Sparrow Field Sparrow Northern Cardinal Rock Pigeon Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Warbling Vireo Magnolia Warbler American Redstart Tennessee Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Canada Warbler Common Yellowthroat Eastern Wood-Pewee Blue Jay Carolina Wren Tufted Titmouse Red-shouldered Hawk Pileated Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker American Goldfinch Great Blue Heron Green Heron Rose-breasted Grosbeak American Kestrel Northern Mockingbird Common Raven Eastern Meadowlark Cedar Waxwing American Robin |