Backyard | Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve 4/20--Eastern Whip-poor-will, Ovenbird, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Prairie Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

At 5:19 this morning, I was awakened by the demented "song" of an Eastern Whip-poor-will in our backyard. Shari was awakened by me so she could share in the return of reliable summer resident, which probably explains why she is napping right now. I was starting to get worried because only one other year since 2012 has the whip-poor-will been this late in arriving. Every year, I go through the same anxiety--suppose it doesn't come back (as if it is the same bird for 13 years)? But every year it seems to find its spot in the weeping cherry tree. And I ever never, ever, have found one in the woods around the house during the daytime. Where they nest is a mystery, but now that one has arrived, we can expect to hear them calling around the neighborhood all through June, and then sporadically until September. 

It is amazing what a good mood hearing the whip put me in, and since I was already up, I decided to drive down to Sooy Place, deep in the Pine Barrens, and check out the Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve. I was there before 7.  By the time I had walked about a half mile to the red gate at the bridge over Burnt Bridge Branch I had listed 20 species and hadn't seen one. Two of them were new for the year: Ovenbird, first bird I heard after I got out of the car, and of course, Prairie Warbler. At the creek I finally started seeing birds. Two Prothonotary Warblers, which nest there, were right out on a branch over the water. Right before I had seen them I heard the song--a wheat a wheat a wheaty o--of a Hooded Warbler, flagged as rare, but not for that section of the county. Also in attendance were Black-and-white Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and the gimme Pine Warbler. By far the most warbler species I have seen/heard so far this year.  A White-eyed Vireo was singing loudly in small tree next to the bridge and Eastern Phoebes were all around, seemingly fighting for the nesting spot beneath the bridge. 

After a while, I continued down the white trail (advice if you go there--stick to the white trail, I once took the horseshoe yellow trail and emerged with 28 ticks clinging to my boots) past Gum Spring, but the activity quickly petered out once I came out of the wet woods. Looking at other lists, I see I missed a few species, no surprise, but I'm pleased with a spring day adding 5 year birds. 

29 species
Canada Goose  1
Wood Duck  1     creek
Mallard  1     flyover
Mourning Dove  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  1
Eastern Phoebe  4
White-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  2
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  4
Carolina Wren  1
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  3
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  7
Brown-headed Cowbird  4
Ovenbird  5
Black-and-white Warbler  6
Prothonotary Warbler  2
Common Yellowthroat  3
Hooded Warbler  2    
Pine Warbler  7
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Prairie Warbler  4
Northern Cardinal  1