Migration is winding down. Nowhere near as many warblers, and the ones that are there are hard to find because all the trees have leafed out. I need to work on finding birds in leafed-out areas - I was really struggling. I could hear lots of birds, but seeing them was an exercise in frustration. (I can hear it, and it sounds like it's right on top of me. Why can't I see it!?!?!).
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15,382 total pictures to cull through (not as many as last week, but still a lot, thanks to pre-capture and 30fps).
Red Foxes - so close!
I heard about foxes nesting near the Magee Marsh overflow parking lot. Instead, I finally saw them in the middle of the main parking lot as I pulled in. I drove past, got my camera out of the back of the car, then drove back, hoping to use my car as a blind. They were still there, but as I tried to line up a shot without grass in the way, the foxes spooked - a birder was walking along the path and scared them off.
Most of what I saw on the boardwalk was our usual summer birds. The Green Heron is curled up in its nest, as is the Prothonotary Warbler in the boardwalk rail nest. At spot #18 I got some good shots of Cedar Waxwings, and I (finally) got a long-distance shot of a Common Yellowthroat way up in a tree. (I can hear them calling everywhere, but they're surprisingly hard to locate - more on that in a minute).
I got lots of Red-eyed Vireo pictures - they were the most common bird by far. I was told Canada Warblers were seen, but never saw one myself. The Merlin app kept telling me that Blackpoll Warblers were around, and I could hear their high-pitched call, but I only saw one way off in the brush - enough to identify with manual focus, but not take a picture.
I checked the path between the main parking lot and the overflow lot, and got some (more) good Red-eyed Vireo pictures, but nothing else showed itself.
Nemesis bird of the day - Common Yellowthroat on the Goose Haven trail
I walked the Goose Haven trail, with the goal of taking a good Common Yellowthroat picture. As usual, Yellow Warblers were everywhere - someday I'm going to get a picture of a pair of them fighting, that tumbling ball of yellow wings I see rocketing past.
All along the trail I could hear the Common Yellowthroats, and there was one in the bushes opposite the big loop of the boardwalk, but I just could not spot it. I gave up a couple of times ... and then came back when I heard it calling again. After a few aborted departures, I finally spotted it. I got some OK shots, but the bushes on the open part of Goose Haven trail are farther away than they seem, and all the brush around the bird was messing with my autofocus.
Once I got to the wooded west end of Goose Haven trail the birds picked up a bit. I got some views of a Northern Flicker, and finally some photos of Indigo Buntings - again, my camera was struggling to focus, trying to find a dark bird in the shade. (It didn't help that my aperture was at f11, making it even darker - I stopped down to try to get the depth of focus for multiple perched Cedar Waxwings, and forgot to open the aperture back up again).
Metzger Marsh
Time to try my new favorite location, the woodlot at the end of the Metzger Marsh canal. On the way in a Great Egret was walking in the lagoon right next to the drive, so I stopped and fired off a bunch of shots. (I'm not blocking traffic when the crush of Biggest Week birders aren't around.)
At the woodlot I was reminded how much migration has tapered off. The only warbler I saw was a female American Redstart, and thick leaves made it impossible to see into the brush where I got photos last week.
I walked out the dike, and met Vicky Mattson, a fellow bird photographer from Athens, Ohio. We walked along the dike, talking about our migration experience, getting some good Eastern Kingbird shots, and seeing the female Redstart. She headed off to her next stop, and I made one last walk around the parking lot.
I heard a Downy Woodpecker calling, sounding like it was right on top of me. I followed the trail a little into the woods, and I could see woodpecker holes in a tree, but I couldn't find the bird - until a little woodpecker head popped out of the hole. Its father flew up, shoved an insect in its mouth, then flitted off to find more. I spent the next few minutes focused on the hole, taking shots of the feeding process, as two parents alternated feeding, with the babies taking turns popping their heads out to call for food. (It helps that downy males have the red on their heads - I could tell there were two parents, and at least two chicks, one of each sex.)
On the way out I saw a Snowy Egret stalking the marsh along the drive, right next to a pullout, so I parked and fired off a bunch of shots. Once again, a lot of them weren't in focus - I'm wondering about heat haze with the cool water and warm air temperature (79°F, Sunny). I did get some good pictures, including the egret tossing back tiny fish it was hunting.
And, I think that's it for this year's spring migration. I may go back to Magee one last time in the first week of June, just to finish out the spring, but the big surge of migrating birds is over.
Warblers Seen
We're getting down to the year-round nesting birds - the Blackpoll was the only one that doesn't nest here in Ohio, and I only saw the one.
- American Redstart
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Yellow Warbler
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