Tropical Storm Lee has dumped more than 5 inches of rain here in the past two days, and more rain is forecast for later today. I have been chomping at the bit to get out to do some birding, and was hoping that the birds were also eager to be out. This morning was foggy, but no rain. When I arrived at the trail at 9:00, there was heavy fog and a light mist - not enough for me to feel it, but wet enough that I had to keep my camera covered as much as possible. Low spots in the trail had one to two inches of standing water.
Fog on the trail
Many of the birds were sitting on branches trying to dry out their feathers. By 9:30, a small patch opened up for some sunlight to shine through, and I caught a bright orange flash in a distant tree - a Baltimore Oriole. The complete fog cover returned, and at 10:00 the sun hung in the fog like a pale yellow orb. However, by 10:30, the fog started to lift. It was so humid that every time I lifted my camera to my eye to take a shot, the reduced air flow made my glasses fog up.
Baltimore Oriole
Red-shouldered Hawk with wet feathers
Red-shouldered Hawk doing some preening
I spent the better part of two hours mostly on Glenthorne Loop and a little bit on the eastern part of the downstream trail. Near the first wooden bridge I got a quick glimpse of a warbler - my best guess is a Nashville, but the photo is poor and I didn't see it very well.
Nashville(?) Warbler
At the edge of the bog area, I photographed an unusual flycatcher - it was mostly olive in color. Although I got a fairly long look at it, I could not see its breast or bill length very well. It was definitely an Empidonax flycatcher, and based on its yellowish throat (the part that I could see, and the bird's location at the edge of the bog area), I think that it was a juvenile/first winter Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Acadian is also a possibility, but they tend to stay within the forest canopy rather than on the edge of brushy vegetation. I would appreciate any comments, as this would be a new species for me.
Yellow-bellied(?) Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied(?) Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied(?) Flycatcher
I then saw a few birds flying low across the field on the east side of route 627. I hurried across the first wooden bridge to get a better look, but they were gone. One of them was a large, dark gray bird with bright white wing-tips - not black enough to be a Black Vulture, but I don't have a clue what it was. I ended up with 28 species this morning:
Indigo Bunting American Crow Field Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Northern Cardinal Red-shouldered Hawk Eastern Wood-Pewee American Goldfinch Cedar Waxwing Northern Mockingbird Rock Pigeon Carolina Chickadee Turkey Vulture Black Vulture White-eyed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Great Blue Heron Baltimore Oriole Red-bellied Woodpecker Catbird Scarlet Tanager Ruby-throated Hummingbird Yellow-bellied(?) Flycatcher Nashville(?) Warbler |
Scarlet Tanager
Carolina Wren
Eastern Wood-Pewee
By the time I got home, the sun was out, and a Red-shouldered Hawk was circling above my house, and squawking at some crows that had pestered it.
Red-shouldered Hawk