Colliers Mills 4/29--Warbling Vireo, Hooded Warbler

With yet another blustery late-winterlike day in the offing, I headed for the wooded trails of Colliers Mills this morning. I had a couple of birds in mind to start, one of which I found, and, as I was walking south along Hawkin Road, another possibility occurred to me. 

Up until last year I never ventured past the little pond on Hawkin Road, but after Scott alerted me to the presence of a Summer Tanager about a mile farther south, I have been walking down the road which curves around the southernmost end of Turnmill Pond. Once I figured out that I could actually walk around the pond and wind up on the berm of Turnmill, I have made it part of my regular route. It was while I was walking this part of the road that I remembered that Hooded Warbler was a good possibility in this section. I stopped where I thought it likely to be but it was no go and with a shrug of my shoulders I moved on. When I got to the pond though, I heard it singing. I don't have half the warbler songs in my head, but "wheaty wheaty wheaty O" is one that I do. So I was happy that the long walk paid off. 

I continued around the pond, onto the berm. Most of the expected warblers today, though I was surprised at how many Palm Warblers I found and how few Prairie Warblers were around. And the Yellow-rumped Warblers, in their gorgeous breeding plumage abounded and were singing. So that's another song I've added to my repertoire. 

American Kestrel

When I got back to the fields, I headed over to the wooded area by the road into the police shooting range. It was there that I heard what I suspected was a Warbling Vireo, one of the target birds of the day. Colliers Mills is just about the most reliable spot I know for this bird, so it wasn't an amazing discovery. I moved closer, scaring up a flock of robins and cowbirds, and I heard the vireo seemingly duetting with a titmouse (which ruined my recordings of the vireo). Warbling Vireo is one of the few birds I don't mind not seeing being as drab as drab can be. 

After another walk in the woods north of Success Road, including staking out the tree where they used to nest, I think I can say it's official: The Red-headed Woodpeckers are not there this year. 

44 species
Canada Goose  30
Mallard  5
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Osprey  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Belted Kingfisher  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  7
Downy Woodpecker  1     Heard
Northern Flicker  2     Heard
American Kestrel  1
Eastern Phoebe  2     Heard
White-eyed Vireo  3     Heard
Warbling Vireo  1     FOY heard
Blue Jay  2     Heard
Fish Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  7
Tree Swallow  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1     Heard
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  13
Carolina Wren  1     Heard
European Starling  1
Gray Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  2
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  21
Chipping Sparrow  7
White-throated Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  20
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Brown-headed Cowbird  5
Common Grackle  1
Ovenbird  20
Black-and-white Warbler  5
Common Yellowthroat  2
Hooded Warbler  1     Heard southernmost pond off Hawkin
Palm Warbler  9
Pine Warbler  4
Yellow-rumped Warbler  17
Prairie Warbler  1     Heard
Northern Cardinal  2