Sunday, May 14, 2017

Belleplain SF 5/14--Acadian Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, Summer Tanager

I went with Mike & Pete on their trip to Belleplain State Forest and over to the Delaware Bay area in Cumberland County. I was looking for year birds today--specifically I was hoping for Prothonotary Warbler (which I've missed a couple of times this year) and Summer Tanager (a difficult bird to get north of Belleplain). We got both, in multiples, but they were "heard only" birds, not terribly satisfying as they are pretty birds to look at. There's a push/pull of birding with a large group in a forest. On the one hand, with experts, you're gonna get good birds. On the other, there isn't time to linger in an area and seek out a sighting of the bird.

The other year bird that I got today was one I had forgotten about and this one we actually saw (though my attempts at photography were pathetic): Acadian Flycatcher, which seemed to be all over, crying (singing is not the word) "Pizz-A."

List below shows how much ear birding I wound up doing. Fortunately, I'm at the point where I can recognize these songs. Unfortunately, I'm still not at the point where I wouldn't rather see them. [The count of 40 Ovenbirds is probably low. It is a joke among us how many there are in Belleplain]
52 species
Canada Goose 4
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 15
Mourning Dove 1 Heard
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Heard
Downy Woodpecker 1 Heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2 Heard
Acadian Flycatcher 5
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 5 Heard
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 10 Heard
Red-eyed Vireo 2 Heard
Blue Jay 1 Heard
American Crow 3
Fish Crow 2
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 10
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Heard
Eastern Bluebird 1 nesting
Wood Thrush 6 Heard
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 1
European Starling 1
Ovenbird 40 Heard
Worm-eating Warbler 1 Heard
Black-and-white Warbler 3 Heard
Prothonotary Warbler 2 Heard
Hooded Warbler 3 Heard
Pine Warbler 6 Heard
Yellow-throated Warbler 1 Heard
Prairie Warbler 3 Heard
Chipping Sparrow 3
Field Sparrow 1 Heard
Summer Tanager 2 Heard
Scarlet Tanager 2
Northern Cardinal 5
Blue Grosbeak 1 Heard
Indigo Bunting 1 Heard
Common Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Orchard Oriole 1 Heard
Baltimore Oriole 2 Heard
American Goldfinch 1 Heard
House Sparrow 1

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