Colliers Mills | Emson Preserve 5/3--Baltimore Oriole, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting, Emson Preserve

It seems to be a birding law that applies only to me: Migration happens elsewhere. I arrived early today at Colliers Mills and while the place was birdy, it wasn't very new birdy. I only added Magnolia Warbler to my year list and that was early on in the walk. Not only was the section of the road where I usually hear Prairie Warblers devoid of them, but I found a swastika painted in purple on a tree. Why anyone would go that far into the woods to be an idiot beggars my comprehension. 

Red-headed Woodpecker, Colliers Mills

I was crossing the fields on Success Road, figuring to go look for the Red-headed Woodpeckers in the woods to the north; maybe that would cheer me up when I saw two of them on a utility pole.  So instead I walked up and around Colliers Mills Lake. On the way back I saw something odd up on a dead tree on the other side of the field I was walking along. Putting my binoculars up, I saw it was two Wood Ducks balancing precariously on the splinter that the broken top of the tree had become. Just as I raised my camera they realized they were ducks and flew off. 

I had a pretty big list but still only that Maggie as new when I got near the parking lot. Then I saw a little warbler action and two of them were a Northern Parula and a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Then, just as I was about to get in the car I heard a familiar song, looked up into a leafing tree behind the white storage building and saw my first Baltimore Oriole (avian division) of the year. So it seems I should have just hung around the parking lot if I wanted additions to the year list. 

The nearby Emson Preserve was my next stop. I only intended to walk the entrance road. While the hardwood forest there looks like it should entice warblers, there haven't been many recorded so far, while I've always found the road itself to be very busy. I walked up and down finding mostly White-throated Sparrows. I had a notion of the bird that should be there but it wasn't until again, I was just about to leave that I looked up and found my FOY Indigo Bunting. The light was terrible, but the bird was beautiful, take my word for it, 'cause the photo sure don't show it.

My long walk around Colliers Mills garnered 49 species; Emson added Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, American Goldfinch & House Wren in addition to the bunting. The Colliers list: 

Canada Goose  15

Wood Duck  2    

Mourning Dove  3     Heard

Killdeer  1     Heard

Laughing Gull  2     Heard flyover

Great Blue Heron  1

Turkey Vulture  3

Bald Eagle  1

Red-headed Woodpecker  2

Red-bellied Woodpecker  5

Hairy Woodpecker  1     Hawkin Rd

Northern Flicker  3

American Kestrel  1

Eastern Phoebe  1     Heard

Great Crested Flycatcher  5

White-eyed Vireo  3     Heard

Warbling Vireo  1     Heard

Blue Jay  7

Fish Crow  4

Carolina Chickadee  5

Tufted Titmouse  1     Heard

Northern Rough-winged Swallow  3

Barn Swallow  4

White-breasted Nuthatch  1

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  4

Carolina Wren  1     Heard

European Starling  3

Gray Catbird  28

Brown Thrasher  5     5+

Eastern Bluebird  4

American Robin  11

Chipping Sparrow  6

Field Sparrow  2

White-throated Sparrow  12

Eastern Towhee  4

Baltimore Oriole  1

Red-winged Blackbird  15

Brown-headed Cowbird  10

Ovenbird  15     Heard

Black-and-white Warbler  1

Common Yellowthroat  10

Northern Parula  1

Magnolia Warbler  1

Black-throated Blue Warbler  1

Palm Warbler  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler  7

Prairie Warbler  1     Heard berm

Northern Cardinal  6

Blue Grosbeak  1

Baltimore Oriole, Colliers Mills