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Posts Tagged ‘magnolia warbler’
Monday, May 31st, 2010
 Dead cedar waxwing. Earlier this month, the Alaotra grebe—a small species from Madagascar—was declared extinct. On Monhegan this morning, I got a look at the preserved remains of a lovely cedar waxwing that’d run into a window and died. (Note: an estimated 100 million or more birds die in the U.S. each year from running into windows.) Then on a hike through Cathedral Woods this afternoon, my friends Kristen and Paul and I came upon a whimsical memorial to a dead wood-warbler.
 Ovenbird memorial. This particular trail in the woods is known for its tiny “fairy houses” made of bark and twigs and lichen and spruce cones. And this particular house had a makeshift cross, a snail shell, and a sort of lean-to holding the corpse of a lovely ovenbird. I can hardly express how touching this was to stumble upon on Memorial Day.
A number of house cats—including an exotic breed or two—stalk the yards of Monhegan, and no doubt a few kill birds. In fall, the island gets by peregrine falcons and other raptors, efficient machines for murder. And, sure, every living thing dies. But it sticks with you when you view the dead bodies of more than one recently living bird in one twenty-four-hour period. It sticks with me, at least.
 White-eyed vireo. So it’s with somewhat deeper appreciation that I counted forty-five living species this warm, summer-like spring day on Monhegan—including plenty of living waxwings (about a hundred). Also including a white-eyed vireo (a lifer for me), a bird Kristen and I tracked down in a thicket off the Burnt Head trail; obligingly, it hopped up onto a dead branch just as I raised my camera. Three individual birds were most discussed this weekend: Saturday’s western kingbird, the white-eyed vireo, and an olive-sided flycatcher reportedly seen in the same area as the vireo. We tried for what one birder called the “all-excited flycatcher” but saw and heard only a bunch of alders. Oh, well.
One interesting aspect of this trip were two thirteen-year-old Maine birders—long-time friends—who really knew their stuff. One of the boys got nice photos of the white-eyed, and the other ended the day with a sighting of a black-billed cuckoo. I believe they both photographed the wayward western kingbird. And this afternoon, on the boat back inshore, they both stood with me in the bow snapping photos of northern gannets.
The northern gannets, by the way, were very much alive.
 Northern oriole. Monhegan List
(Numbered for full trip; not in order of listing.)
55. White-eyed vireo**
56. Northern flicker (voice)
57. Spotted sandpiper*
58. White-throated sparrow (voice)
American robin
Cedar waxwing
Red-breasted nuthatch
House wren
Winter wren (voice)
Carolina wren
Magnolia warbler
Alder flycatcher
Golden-crowned kinglet (voice)
Double-crested cormorant
Herring gull
Great black-backed gull
Laughing gull
Common eider
Black guillemot
Mallard
American goldfinch
White-winged crossbill
Ring-necked pheasant (voice)
American crow
Common grackle
Red-winged blackbird
European starling
Purple finch (voice)
Common yellowthroat
Yellow warbler
American redstart
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Blackpoll warbler (voice)
Gray catbird
Mourning dove
Black-capped chickadee
Northern oriole
Brown thrasher
Northern cardinal (voice)
Eastern kingbird
Alder flycatcher
Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
Song sparrow
Blue jay (voice)
Osprey (voice)
Elsewhere
Northern gannet
Bald eagle
Tufted titmouse (voice)
*First-of-year bird.
**Life bird.
 Northern gannet, living and breathing.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, brown thrasher, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, common eider, common grackle, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, herring gull, house wren, laughing gull, magnolia warbler, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern oriole, osprey, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, ring-necked pheasant, song sparrow, spotted sandpiper, white-eyed vireo, white-throated sparrow, white-winged crossbill, winter wren, yellow warbler
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Sunday, May 30th, 2010
 Carolina wren. It’s hard to put into words the shift in reality you feel when staying on an island a several miles offshore. A smallish island, with another hundred souls or so, and some leashless dogs, and pickups without license plates driving slowly along windy one-lane gravel roads. Especially at this time of year, when the air smells of the ocean and lilacs and cut grass and roses. And there’s a bird in every tree.
 Cedar waxwing—not an uncommon bird on Monhegan. Another fruitful day on Monhegan. Up at first light (about 5 a.m.). Two hours birding before breakfast. Hazy in the morning, then a spattering of rain. Then clearing into full sun and summer-like warmth. The calendar seems much earlier than the season.
Birders’ excitement yesterday—there’s always some crazy vagrant—was the western kingbird we saw hanging out with the eastern kingbirds at the watery wetland they call The Meadow. We also heard tell of a white-eyed vireo and, today, an olive-sided warbler, but we neither saw nor heard either. However, I personally listed a dozen new island species, including four first-of-year birds (red-breasted nuthatch, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, and willet). That’s a good fifty-four species on the trip so far—certainly no record, but not bad for a migration mostly gone by.
 Yellow warbler. I got a couple decent photos but thought I’d lost them all as my camera battery died while downloading. Thankfully, I didn’t—but if I had, it wouldn’t’ve been nearly as upsetting as if I’d been inshore. The Carolina wren was fairly nice. Also a couple of waxwing shots. (I saw a pair of waxwings, by the way, feeding each other berries—a behavior I’ve witnessed in the past but involving apple blossoms.) But no photo overshadowed the dramatic Heimlich Maneuver rescue of a guest at dinner. Lucky for him he sat near a doctor who, though she acknowledged it was her first Heimlich, expelled the food expertly. (Others of us who had taken CPR classes stood by just in case.) In the end, he finished his meal and had chocolate cake for dessert.
This evening, I watched the sunset over the ocean with Kristen and Paul. Gulls were riding the wind lazily in the gathering darkness, headed somewhere to roost. And on my walk back to my room at the Trailing Yew, I saw the silhouette of a great blue heron in flight.
Such is Monhegan. Such is life.
 Willet. Monhegan List
(Numbered for full trip; not in order of listing.)
43. Brown thrasher
44. Common raven (voice)
45. Chipping sparrow (voice)
46. Northern parula (voice)
47. Red-breasted nuthatch*
48. Magnolia warbler
49. Alder flycatcher
50. Willet*
51. Ruby-throated hummingbird
52. Winter wren* (voice)
53. Golden-crowned kinglet* (voice)
54. Great blue heron
Laughing gull
Common eider
European starling
Ring-necked pheasant
Mourning dove (voice)
Blue jay (voice)
American goldfinch
Common yellowthroat
Northern gannet
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Blackpoll warbler (voice)
Barn swallow
House wren
Cedar waxwing
American redstart
Carolina wren
Black-capped chickadee
Gray catbird
Eastern kingbird
Double-crested cormorant
Northern oriole
Red-winged blackbird
Common grackle
Song sparrow
Yellow warbler
Herring gull
Mallard
American crow
American robin
Gray catbird
Osprey
Black guillemot
Great black-backed gull
*First-of-year bird.
 White Head, Monhegan, 30 May 2010.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, barn swallow, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, brown thrasher, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, common eider, common grackle, common raven, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern kingbird, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, great blue heron, herring gull, house wren, laughing gull, magnolia warbler, mallard, mourning dove, northern gannet, northern oriole, northern parula, osprey, red-breasted nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, ring-necked pheasant, ruby-throated hummingbird, song sparrow, willet, winter wren, yellow warbler
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Friday, May 21st, 2010
 Beech Nut. I got up at the crack of dawn to go cycling. Jack agreed to let me go if I promised still to walk with him up Beech Hill afterward.
See, a friend had organized an early-Friday-morning ride, and being a biking junky, I couldn’t resist. There were three of us this morning. The ride was hard, fun, exhilarating, tiring, inspiring. Of course, it being so early, I couldn’t resist keeping track of the various birds I (mainly) heard along our route.
 American robin. I was, frankly, astounded by the variety of species—although I suppose I shouldn’t have been, given the season, the distance (forty-seven miles), and the time of day. I counted forty-one spp., including eleven warblers, five sparrows, three thrushes, two flycatchers, a bobolink, a killdeer, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a kestrel. At one point a wild turkey dashed across the road in front of us. The morning was beautiful: sunny, green, calm, with temps about 60 degrees (F). Perfect for a ride.
Afterward, as promised, I took dog up the hill. (It hurt, I must confess.) Not a lot of variety there today—although I supposed it shouldn’t surprise me, given the (later) time of day. I didn’t even get any decent photos, the birds being especially shy. Just missed a chestnut-sided and red-eyed vireo, but there you go.
To tell you the truth, the day beyond the bike ride amounted to little more than afterglow. The wind picked up some, but the sun didn’t quit. I thrilled to the screams of an osprey above the oaks overhanging my place. The landscape seems somehow greener than it usually is at this time of year.
I’m thinking I’ll be hitting the sack a little early tonight.
 Rosa rugosa. Friday Cycling List
Beginning at 5:15 a.m., I rode 47 miles in Knox and Waldo counties. (Not in order of identification.)
1. Common yellowthroat (voice)
2. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
5. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
6. Yellow warbler (voice)
7. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
8. Nashville warbler (voice)
9. American redstart (voice)
10. Magnolia warbler (voice)
11. Northern parula (voice)
12. Blue jay (voice)
13. American crow
14. House sparrow (voice)
15. Chipping sparrow (voice)
16. Song sparrow (voice)
17. Savannah sparrow (voice)
18. White-throated sparrow (voice)
19. American goldfinch (voice)
20. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
21. Northern cardinal (voice)
22. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
23. American robin
24. Wood thrush (voice)
25. Veery (voice)
26. Bobolink
27. Brown-headed cowbird (voice)
28. Tree swallow
29. Killdeer (voice)
30. American kestrel (voice)
31. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
32. Eastern phoebe (voice)
33. Mourning dove
34. Rock pigeon
35. Gray catbird
36. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
37. Tufted titmouse (voice)
38. Herring gull
39. Wild turkey
40. European starling
41. Red-bellied woodpecker
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9:15 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
Ovenbird (voice)
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Chestnut-sided warbler
Common yellowthroat
Red-eyed vireo
42. Eastern towhee
Black-and-white warbler (voice)
Veery (voice)
43. Common raven (voice)
American crow (voice)
White-throated sparrow (voice)
Gray catbird
44. Field sparrow (voice)
Yellow warbler (voice)
Song sparrow (voice)
Nashville warbler (voice)
Savannah sparrow (voice)
Eastern phoebe
45. Hermit thrush (voice)
Black-capped chickadee
Blue jay (voice)
American robin
Elsewhere
46. Double-crested cormorant
47. Laughing gull
48. Osprey
Tags: American kestrel, American redstart, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, bobolink, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common raven, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, killdeer, laughing gull, magnolia warbler, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, osprey, ovenbird, red-bellied woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, wood thrush, yellow warbler
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| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
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