Bulletin #154 - Spring Migration #3

Well it is over for another year and what a strange spring it was. I never saw even one example of some fairly common species such as Yellow-throated, Canada, and Nashville Warblers.
Three other species I saw only Tuesday May 8th after a rain.
There were reports all last week of Black-throasted Blue and Cape May Warblers at LaFitte's Cove. These are both very uncommon, but I missed them again this year, the Black-throated Blue by only 5 minutes on Friday 4th:(
However, there are always birds to photograph and the Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)provided my best photos ever of this species. This black and white male has a solid black crown with white cheeks. However, the notable feature is the orange legs.

Blackpoll Warbler - male

The female is black and white with a yellowish wash below. However, notice that she has the same color legs and this is the ID mark. I think this is the first time I have ever seen a female of this species.

Blackpoll Warbler - female

The Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) is a brown backed ground, dwelling warbler with a striped head and central orange stripe. It has a streaked breast and might be confused with a thrush, but it is much smaller. It is named for its nest that is built on the ground and resembles an oven. It is not named for its taste.

Ovenbird

The male Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea) has a brown cap, throat and flanks. The face is black as are the wings with 2 white bars. He has an insect in his mouth in this picture.

Bay-breasted Warbler - breeding male

The Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus) is a brown-backed thrush with spotted breast and no eye-ring. The lack of eye-ring distinguishes this bird from the similar Swainson's Thrush. The sexes are similar.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

An unusual photo was this Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus). Shrikes, as you know, capture insects, small reptiles etc and impale them on thorns or barbed wire to store them until eaten later. Normally, they are skittish, but this one flew onto a dead snag 15 feet from me and allowed a single photo before leaving. An important field mark of all shrikes is the heavy hooked beak. Here is a photo of the business end of this bird.

Loggerhead Shrike - detail

On May 8th at LaFitte's Cove, another birder told me there was a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) in the oak tree by the bench, above the drip. It was 8pm and had been raining a little. I found the owl, and as luck would have it, the flash was dead. I turned it off for a moment and luckily it recharged or dried out and I got a couple of flash shots. His ear tufts are in disarray due to the rain (looks like a punk haircut). Here is a frontal view.

Great Horned Owl

And here is the back of the bird.



Great Horned Owl

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2012 David McDonald

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Bulletin #137 - migration #3 - warblers

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX
4-28-2011

(Click on the photos to see a larger image)

The Worm-eating Warbler (Helmithiros vermivorus) is a plain brown warbler with a neatly striped top of the head, which makes an easy ID. It one of my favorites because it is uncommon. I still remember seeing my lifer at High Island years ago. This photo was taken at LaFitte's Cove, Galveston.

The Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca) is my favorite due to its vibrant coloration. The male is black and white with a brilliant orange face and throat. Here are 2 photos of a bird at Quintana. The first is in a tree above the drip and the second on the rocks around the pool at the base of the drip.

The Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus) is another secretive bird that is easiest to see during migration. The bird is yellow below and olive above. He has no wing bars, but has a unique black mustache on the face. In the male, shown here, the mustache extends onto the breast. He was found at LaFitte's Cove.

The Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) is a bright yellow bird with blue wings and 2 white wing bars. He aslo has a black line through the eye to the beak. The sexes are similar. This has been one of nemesis birds over the years, but this year I finally saw several birds and obtained my best photos of this species. This photo was taken at LaFitte's Cove.

 Here is a great side by side comparison of the 2 predominately black and white colored warblers. The male Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) has a striped top of head, and a black cheek and throat.

The female of the same species has the similarly striped crown, but the cheek and throat are white.



The other species is the Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata). The male of this species has a solid black crown with white face. He also has a faint yellowish wash on the wings. Also, the legs are orange-pink. This is another good field mark for this species. These 3 birds were all photgraphed at LaFitte's Cove.

In the last bulletin, I showed the different field marks for the 2 species of waterthrushes. However, if you look in the field guides, there are 2 color variants of the Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia novaboracensis). Note, the scientific name has changed for this species. The genus was previously Seiurus. The 2 color variants are white and yellow. I found both of them this year. The first is the whiter bird. It has a white eye stripe similar to the Louisiana Waterthrush and is thus a more difficult ID problem, but look at the leg color.

Here is the more familiar yellowish bird. The eye stripe and flanks are a buffy yellow color.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.