Back in April of 2014, Greg P discovered the first Louisiana Waterthrush to be found in Double Trouble SP, a hard bird to find in the county. I remember going there with him soon after and finding not one, but two of them along the little canal that runs up to the Mill Pond. Since then, a waterthrush has been found there almost annually--likely not the same one since their lifespan is only about 8 years--and almost always along that canal. The canal is really more like a ditch, which is an odd place for a Louisiana Waterthrush since, I've been taught, they prefer fast moving water as opposed to the very similar Northern Waterthrush that likes its habitat calmer. One year, I remember finding one on the spillway of the Mill Pond and that seemed a more natural place for it, but all the other times I've seen them, they have been skulking along the bank of the canal.
The other day I saw that one was reported at the park, but due to other commitments, I couldn't go there until this morning. As I said, it is a hard bird for the county, and according to my records, I have about a 50% hit rate finding it. Today, I went directly to the canal and started my slow walk up the canal. About 2/3 of the way to the Mill Pond there is a little semicircular trail that overlooks Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek moves along at a good clip, so I thought that it might be a likely spot for the bird. Since waterthrushes haven't been recorded breeding here, it wasn't really unethical for me to play the recording to see if I could attract one and it worked. The bird responded with a loud, long song, completely different than a Northern Waterthrush's. Now that I knew the bird was around, I wanted to get eyes on it. It was so loud but I couldn't find it on the ground. I walked back to the main trail and while my directional hearing is sketchy, it sounded like the bird was up in the trees and after a bit I found it flitting around in a cedar. Tailing bobbing, streaked, with a big white supercilium and way too active for photographs, but satisfactory, nonetheless.
Along that trail I had a couple of bonus birds. There are some species that I only see in the winter and therefore don't know their songs very well, if at all--birds like Yellow-rumped Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Winter Wrens. Today, while I was trying the record the "chup" notes of a Hermit Thrush (infrequent this time of year), I heard a song I didn't recognize at all. It was quite lovely, and it turned out to be a Winter Wren according to Merlin. I played back actual Winter Wren recordings, and they matched perfectly. Never saw the bird, but they are notoriously difficult to see in any season. Then, still trying to get the call of the Hermit Thrush recorded, another bird was twittering overhead and up popped Northern Rough-winged Swallow on my phone. Again, recordings on my phone matched Merlin's identification (Merlin can be, let us say, "unreliable" at times) NRWS is a not a bird I "worry" about, but still, happy to have it on the list.
 |
| Belted Kingfisher (female) |
For the morning, 31 species:
Canada Goose 3
Mallard 6 flyover
Ring-necked Duck 1
Mourning Dove 1
Great Egret 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1 Heard, back bogs
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 Heard overhead
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Winter Wren 1 Heard along canal
Carolina Wren 2
Hermit Thrush 3 Heard 2 saw one along canal
American Robin 5
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 2
Dark-eyed Junco 4
Song Sparrow 5
Swamp Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 1
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Pine Warbler 6
Northern Cardinal 1
