Double Trouble 3/27--Eastern Phoebe

One week into spring and it is cold, damp, and dismal. I took a walk in the WMA this morning, forcing myself to get going despite the gloomy skies. Immediately, I heard the buzzy trill of Pine Warblers. For the first 2/3 of the walk, most of my birding was by ear, but when I reached the lake I hit a good pocket of birds that I could actually see. The happiest find for me was a large number of Golden-crowned Kinglets, a bird I haven't seen since the dead of winter. I guess they're starting to migrate now, but in which direction, I don't know.

Then late this afternoon, after it had stopped raining, again, I drove over to Double Trouble SP. It seemed pretty dead as I walked west to the reservoir but just before I reached the water I found a little area that was busy with birds, including about 8 Pine Warblers and Brown Creeper. The lake had the first dozen or so of over 80 Ring-neck Ducks that I would find throughout the park, and a loud cheeping sound puzzled me for a moment until I looked overhead and saw an Osprey fly above me. I don't mind relearning the warbler songs each spring, but it is a sad commentary on my memory when I can't remember what an Osprey sounds like.

A look behind the sawmill flushed a woodcock and a walk on the back bogs added more ducks and an American Coot, not a bird I often (if ever) see at DT. A couple was walking on the other side of the bog and I watched them to see if they would flush any birds. One did flush, but at first I couldn't figure it out from the distance until I realized that it was pumping its tail and was a gray and white bird that could only be an Eastern Phoebe. I heard a phoebe this morning in the WMA, but I'd rather list the one I see than the one hear. I walked over to that side of the bog but I couldn't refind the bird. I did come across a Yellow-rumped Warbler. They'll soon be scarce while the other warblers will be, I hope, abundant.

17 species for my 3 miles of bogs and pine forest.
Canada Goose  7
American Black Duck  5
Mallard  46
Ring-necked Duck  82
Hooded Merganser  4
Osprey  1
American Coot  1
American Woodcock  1     
Mourning Dove  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Carolina Chickadee  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1     Heard
Pine Warbler  8
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Song Sparrow  1