Stéphane’s Blog for May 05, 2011

A Nice Push!

A clear night and morning brought us a nice little movement of birds today! We had the first Blue-headed Vireo of the spring, as well as the first Ovenbird and Blackburnian Warbler (the first 2 in the nets). It is almost a shock to watch the first Blackburnian of the year, when the intensely orange burns in the morning sun, contrasted by the sharp black and white, of this magnificent bird. Yes, it is the language of love, I am not shy of admitting it! The Blackburnian Warbler is without a doubt one of my favourite birds…

In total today, 7 species of warblers were detected: Nashville (a handful), Yellow-rumped (lots), Black-throated Green (several), the one and famous Blackburnian, Pine (quite a few), Palm (lots), Black-and-white (2 handfuls), and the one Ovenbird.

Numbers are building up despite the cold weather. Of the 60 species detected today, a notable one was the rarely seen (at Cabot Head) Blue-winged teal : a pair shortly landed on Wingfield Basin.

Lots and lots of Black-capped Chickadees moved through today, as well as good numbers of red-breasted Nuthatches. Kinglets and Brown Creepers are still quite numerous too.

A Peregrine Falcon (probably a male, based on its size) flew by in the early morning, heading East at first, and then, turning South! Apparently, it was not decided to cross Georgian Bay today.

3 species of swallows were seen, but in very small numbers: Barn, Tree, and Northern Rough-winged.

That’s it for now!

Stéphane