3/27/2021
It is that time of year. Winter has wrapped, and everyone (and I mean everyone) is waiting for the damn to burst on spring migration. Early migrants have already arrived. For the most part, this means birds that breed in the state. They are here to stake out nesting locations. The later migrants (think warblers) will mostly move through and nest north of here. Of the early migrants, Pine Warbler is one that is always on my mind.
With that in mind, Jeff and I headed south to look for Pine Warbler. I was hoping to find Louisiana Waterthrush, too, but we did not have much luck. Chipping Sparrow and Eastern Phoebe were some other early migrants I was hoping to find, too. Strangely, we did not find any phoebe. We covered Tower Ridge Road, Crooked Creek, and Yellowwood SF. All in all, I think we had around 6 Pine Warblers for the day. We had two we were able to photograph. Hard to complain.
We did find one cooperative Chipping Sparrow at Yellowwood that was feeding on the ground. I normally would have laid down for these shots, but the pine trees were dripping sap onto the grass, and I did not want to coat myself and my camera in pine sap.
I awoke this morning (Sunday) to gloomy skies and the sound of high winds. I had been out late at the drive-in theater Saturday night and decided that maybe, I could take Sunday off. Next weekend will be a lot busier with birding. Better rest while I can.
Thanks for reading,
Mike