May misses and Heard Only Birds

   

The best photo of the best bird I saw over my two days off.
Virginia Rail

   I had Thurs/Fri off from work but I had to work the weekend. For me, that means May is pretty much over. On Wednesday I'm leaving for North Carolina to do some pelagic and land birding for a few days. Between now and Wednesday I have so much work stuff to get ahead on and too much personal stuff to catch up on. So, although I may get out for a couple hours after work the next couple of days, realistically I'm done.

   As I said a couple posts ago, May goes by way too fast. Obviously, missing an entire weekend next week will shorten a month, but I got to tell you, I think migration is about over anyway. For sure there is still a very good possibility for a rare bird such as another Mourning Warbler or Olive Sided Flycatcher to show up. But in terms of big numbers and the trees being covered with bright little birds, we are past the peak. Here is a quick rundown of my two hard days of birding. 

   Thursday morning I got great looks at a Virginia Rail at a swamp in Westerly thanks to my friend Sue. From there, we went to Burlingame north where we saw an Acadian Flycatcher and heard Hooded Warblers and Pileated Woodpeckers. 

   Then Sue and I went Rome Point. There had been two very good warblers there. A Kentucky and a Mourning. We got lucky and heard both. We didn't see either. Though later in the day, my friend Tim and I got a brief look at the Kentucky and he even got a couple photos.

   Friday I birded alone almost all day except at my first stop, Miantonomi. Louise R and I birded there from7-9 am. The woods were quiet. The only birds that we say that weren't residents were a Blackpoll and a Yellow Billed Cuckoo. He had great looks at both birds, but there was a disappointing amount of migrating birds. That theme continued all day.  Other than hearing a couple more cuckoos and finding an Acadian Flycatcher, my day was boring.

   This all leads up to migration being just about over. For me, it is a good thing I am not listing this year. I missed quite a few birds I normally see. I missed the rare Yellow Throated Warbler at Trustom early in migration. However, I missed some expected birds also. I did not see any Cape May, Nashville,  or Bay Breasted Warblers, or Louisiana Waterthrush (I didn't go for the Waterthrush) this spring. Somehow I missed Bay Breasted while others had it at Mia. I did not see any Yellow Throated Vireos. This was a bummer because I don't have any life photos of them. Though I still have a decent shot at the Vireo and the Cape May in the fall, especially on the Block. I'm sure there are probably others I missed but those are misses I never miss.

   Probably more frustrating than missing a few birds is the sheer number of "heard only" birds I have on my list. I have a tough time with songs and sounds. I am not musical at all. Usually I have to relearn all of the Warbler songs every spring because I will forget them by June. Over the last two weeks I have had Black Billed Cuckoo, Mourning Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Whip-poor-wills,  Black Throated Green, Mississippi Kite, Tennessee Warbler, Worm Eating Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and Sora as heard only birds. 

   Right now I am at my "peak" of knowing bird songs and calls. Like I said, I will have forgotten them in the next couple of weeks. That said, hearing birds for me is only a tool to help see them. I'd much rather see a bird than hear it (Wood Thrush and Red Tailed Hawks being exceptions). Some birds like Sora and Mourning Warbler you don't expect to see. However, not seeing Hooded Warbler or Worm Eating is quite a surprise. Both nest in Rhode Island so maybe after I get back from the Outer Banks, chasing them could be a June goal. 

   Why did I write a post that was pretty much negative? Simply because it was honest. I did not see as many migrants as usual. Though part of that was there wasn't any pressure too. However, list or not, I want to see the birds. I still love seeing Bay Breasted and Nashville Warblers.Who wouldn't? I would much rather see the Missisippi Kite soar than hear it. Still, I got to see most of the birds. I found two very good birds on my own this May. I found Eastern Meadowlarks at Franklin Farm in Cumberland. If they are nesting, they most likely are the only ones breeding in the state. I also found Acadian Flycatchers at Weetamoo Woods. So all in all, though it sounds like complaining, May has had far more ups than downs. As Bill Belichick would say...On to shorebirds

Looking at the Birds

 There is a difference from birding and bird watching. If you talk to someone that does neither, they will almost certainly call you a bird watcher. Truthfully all of us with feeders at our house are bird watchers. We enjoy looking at the birds that come to our feeders or nest in our yards. We can do watch birds from our kitchen table, deck, or a lawn chair.

   Birding is far more active. Birding is actively going out to find the birds. Going birding requires patience, skill and time. The more of these three things you have the better the birder you will become. To be a good birder you need to study. You need to know the field marks of birds that look similar so you can tell them apart. If you think bird watching and birding are the same, I challenge you to walk out to Napatree under a hot sun when the next rare bird is found there. All the while rushing back so you don't get a parking ticket. You will understand the difference.

   But here is the thing about birding, birders spend far more time looking for rather than looking at birds. Think about that for a second because it is true. All of us have gone to Trustom right? Think about how many minutes you take to look at birds through your binoculars during a two hour walk. How long are the eye cups actually over your eyes? Chances are that amount of time is less than a few minutes. Of course, there are many reasons for this. There are plenty of roots and rocks to watch out for. There are plenty of places where there aren't birds to look at. These are  valid reasons. 

   The other main reason we don't spend a lot of time looking at the birds is because subconsciously our main goal is to ID them. Think about it. How many times have you raised your binoculars only to say out loud "Robin" or "just a Chickadee". Chances are if it is a common bird, you lower the binoculars and move on. Yes, I am just as guilty as anyone else. There is only so many times I can admire a robin when my main goal is a Pileated Woodpecker.

   However, what I am really trying to do is watch and look at the birds in migration, even the common ones. For example, I seem to be seeing Rose Breasted Grosbeaks everywhere. I've probably seen ten over the last four after work walks. They are still beautiful even though I am seeing them every day. So instead of raising my binos and saying out loud "another Rose Breasted Grosbeak" and then moving on, I have been watching them. I have been admiring their beauty. I watched a male chase off another male at the Cumberland Monastery last night. It was fun

   While I was at Great Swamp on Friday I came across a very cooperative Black and White Warbler. It was feeding only feet from me and didn't care about my presence at all. I've seen dozens of them so far this year. But this one wanted to put on a show. So I stayed there and I watched it. It would sing while it was feeding doing that high pitched buzz. The whole show lasted a good three minutes. I am happy it decided to hang out with me for that time.

   Since warbler migration only lasts a month or so, I am doing my best to keep my binoculars up when I see a pretty bird. Just because orioles are everywhere, it does not take away from their beauty. I love seeing them, I love getting photos of them. So this spring once I ID them I'm going to keep my binoculars on them for a few more seconds and really enjoy the colors. I will be better off for it.

A Long Single

   

My favorite warbler, Black Throated Blue.

   If I were to use a baseball analogy to describe Spring Migration so far, I'd say we hit a solid single to the outfield. We have rounded first but know that for now second base is out of reach. For sure spring migration is here. There are warblers, Great Crested Flycatchers, vireos, and thrushes. They just do not seem to be in big numbers yet.  I think between last week and today, I saw 18-20 new species for the year. This sounds good, but I think there are a lot of "easy" birds I still haven't seen.

    No complaining. There were plenty of birds to see, I just had to work a little harder for them. Today I birded my little heart out for twelve hours. I did about eleven miles (then I rewarded myself with Chinese Food, it's all about balance). 

This Osprey landed almost over our heads at Asa Pond

    I started my morning at Mia in Newport and ended it at Tri-Pond Park in South Kingston. My companions for most of the day were Sue Palmer and Tim Metcalf. We also birded with Carlos Pedro and Louise Ruggeri for part of the morning. 

   Mia was pretty slow all things considering. The highlight for us were two male Rose Breasted Grosbeaks. There was also a Black Throated Green Warbler calling before we got there, but we did not see or hear it. I also saw a Hummingbird. 

   

Thanks Little Buddy (Black and White Warbler)

From there we hit two land trust properties in Jamestown. Highlights were American Kestrel and my favorite warbler, Black Throated Blue. We could also see 53 Glossy Ibis flying around the marsh near Weedon Lane.  We did see or hear the more common warblers including Parula, Blue Winged, and Black and White.

   After buying lunch we stopped at Great Swamp but only hiked a little bit. There were multiple Redstarts and a Black and White that wanted me to take its photo. My main focus were Northern Waterthrush and Yellow Throated Vireo both of which we dipped on. 

Probably the best bird of the day, Solitary Sandpiper

  We hit another land trust in South Kingston near URI that I do not remember the name of. By far the best bird was a Solitary Sandpiper. We should have reported it, because that is a very good bird. However, a dog/dog owner scared it off and it flew out of sight so there was no point. 

My last stop was Tri-Pond park in South Kingston. There were multiple Warbling Vireos. I saw some swallows, Chimney Swifts, and Yellow Warblers around the pond.

My day ended photographing this singing Warbling Vireo

   All in all, Today was fun. I saw many  species of migrating birds but I know it could be better. It's only going to take one or two nights with the right winds for everything to explode. Until then, I'm not complaining. It is still nice to see color in the trees.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, May goes by too quickly!!!