Colliers Mills 4/29--Solitary Sandpiper, Wood Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Hooded Warbler

Solitary Sandpiper

The water at the southern end of Turnmill Pond in Colliers Mills, flows under a berm and into another, smaller, nameless pond. That pond, in turn, flows into a couple of marshy areas, which eventually spread out into a much larger pond. Someone there once told me that this terminal pond, which empties into the Borden Branch, is called Forty Acre Pond. How true that is I don't know, but that's how I refer to it in my eBird reports. Kind of passive aggressive if you're looking for it on a map. 

Ring-necked Duck

That's where most of the interesting birds were today. It's a bit of hike back there, but walking is what I do. Aside from Canada Geese, the only other waterfowl I saw today was a Ring-necked Duck on that pond, flagged as rare, since by now you'd expect them all to have made their way back north. While I was documenting the Ring-necked, I heard from the woods behind me my first Wood Thrush of the year. E-olay. 

Then, scanning the mud flats I saw a shorebird. First reaction was Spotted Sandpiper but before I could get a good read on it the bird took off and flew on to a more distant mud flat. However, the fact that it wasn't bobbing its tail and the huge white eye ring I could see in my very distant photos, told me that it was my first Solitary Sandpiper of 2024. Then I found another one, a little closer to where I stood. They were separated enough, though, to maintain their sobriquet. 

I head back toward Hawkin Road and stopped at a stand of mountain laurel (too early to be in bloom). It is here that, for the last few years, I have heard a reliable Hooded Warbler, and today was no exception. The only problem is that I don't think I have ever seen the warbler at this spot. It makes me wonder, too, if it is a returning bird (how long to warblers live?) or if it is just an attractive spot for the species. 

The other new bird for the year was actually the first one I found, a Baltimore Oriole singing high in a tree along what I like to think of as Prairie Warbler Alley. Throw in the Great Crested Flycatchers I heard and saw to add to the county list, and it was a very good day there, with 43 species, though somehow I missed, chickadees, nuthatches, and Song Sparrows. 

Canada Goose  10
Ring-necked Duck  1     
Mourning Dove  5
Killdeer  1
Solitary Sandpiper  2     
Laughing Gull  9     Flyover
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-headed Woodpecker  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  7
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  3
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
White-eyed Vireo  5
Blue Jay  2
Tufted Titmouse  5
Barn Swallow  4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  5
Carolina Wren  2
European Starling  4
Gray Catbird  8
Brown Thrasher  1
Northern Mockingbird  2
Eastern Bluebird  1
Wood Thrush  1     
American Robin  8
American Goldfinch  1
Chipping Sparrow  5
White-throated Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  4
Baltimore Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Ovenbird  12
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  15
Hooded Warbler  1     
Pine Warbler  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler  14
Prairie Warbler  4
Northern Cardinal  3