Parula americana…

or better known as the Northern Parula are some of the early migrating Wood Warblers that arrive in the Ohio Valley in early Spring. With their high pitched trill with that distinct “hic-cup” at the end, these warblers are our tree top feeders. Normally just hearing them, we’ll have to crane our necks to get decent views as they search for food in the uppermost foliage. But every once in a while they come down to earth an provide some excellent photo-ops.

Such was the case this last friday as I drove the few miles to one of Hamilton County’s smaller parks, Lake Isabella. With it’s 28 acre lake, fishing is the main attraction for this park.  Bordering the Little Miami River it also offers the normal playground equipment with plenty of shaded picnic areas for families. Living within close proximity, I do frequent this park but normally for water fowl during fall and winter months. But I’m here today because of rumors floating around about a Northern Parula that’s been putting on quite a show.

Since the park borders the Little Miami River it has canoe access area with an adjacent parking lot. Well this particular Northern Parula doesn’t seem to like competition from other Northern Parulas, especially reflections of other Northern Parulas in car rear view mirrors.

I think we’ve all seen birds attacking it’s own reflection before, however I’ve not seen any warbler species do this. Here it is perched on top of the side mirror of a mini-van after pecking at itself in the mirror.

Yes, images do appear larger in this mirror.

Needless to say I did get some splendid shots as I tried to get the best angle with the setting sun. The Parula seemed oblivious to people as it kept returning to the same mirror.

Sometimes it would land in a nearby bush to offer a more natural setting.

Or it would land on the car antenna.

In a way I felt sorry of the bird. It was a very territorial bird, and this reflection was really bothering the bird. Now if there were no cars in the area everything would be normal, but being a pretty popular park I feel that this might be an issue all spring. So if I do return I’m just going to have to park a little further away an walk to the area.

You just have to love these Wood Warblers.

Notes From The Field

Despite the beautiful weather last weekend, from a birding perspective it was a total bust. Previous obligations kept me close to home, and even though the temptation to go out was there, knowing ahead of time that this weekend was MY weekend made up for the lost time. It’s Spring, and migrants are on the move!

I had a pretty good idea where I wanted to visit, and the first place was Spring Valley Wildlife Area. Sleeping in wasn’t an option as I drove prior to the sun rising to be on the boardwalk bright and early to catch any Rail action. Spring Valley is noted for Soras and Virginia Rails, and today I wasn’t picky which showed up. And it was the Soras that showed off and kept me on my toes with camera in hand.

It wasn’t till I started to walk back from the observation platform that I noticed it’s tell-tale yellow bill amongst the brown and green of the background. As the Sora moved about feeding i had to wait for the right time when the bird was out in the open to capture any photo. As usual I had to discard more photos than i kept.

Even with rising sun behind my back, photographing this bird as it darts in and out of the shadows can prove difficult.

Even though it’s just a Northern Cardinal, I love the contrast between the blue sky and the red of the bird.

Another regular of Spring Valley is this Swamp Sparrow. Normally difficult to capture sitting up like this, but with it being mating season they were more exposed just singing away.

A very, very distant, first of the season Green heron.

After leaving the boardwalk I drove to the other section of the park which gives you greater access to the Loveland bike trail. As anyone would expect bu=ike traffic was a little heavy, plus the foot traffic of plenty of birders made for a busy bike trail. This is a very nice section of the bike trail with mature trees and plenty of water on both sides.

A very distant Prothonotary Warbler. It’s really difficult to get a sharp picture when using digital zoom and no tripod.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were everywhere. Trying to photograph these tiny hyperactive birds has proven difficult throughout the years, but yesterday I got a few.

A quick shot of this Hermit Thrush before it hopped down and started to pick through the leaf litter on the forest floor.

After Spring Valley I made the short drive to Caesar Creek Gorge State Nature Preserve. The preserve’s prime feature is the gorge that was formed by great volumes of glacial meltwater cutting down through the bedrock to expose Ordovician limestone and shale rich in fossils. The steep walls rise to 180 feet above the river. More than two miles of Caesar Creek flow through the gorge to the Little Miami State and National Scenic River. It has a 2.25 mile loop trail, and is my go-to spot for Louisiana Waterthrush.

I had the whole place to myself. Someplace like this being totally empty except for yourself and the birds. It was about half way through the trail when it comes close to the river when I heard my first LOWA. The bird was the opposite side of the river and never got close enough for a good photo.

I will return and try again in the near future. This photo is totally unsatisfactory.

Now this morning the forecast called for rain starting late morning. So once again I hurried through a couple cups of coffee on the front porch, and then drove to Gilmore Ponds to check on the great Horned Owls that have been nesting there. As a matter of fact someone was there yesterday and shared on Facebook a photo of one of the fledged Owlets.

One of these days I’ll get a nice, clear photo of a male Wood Duck.

I hiked back towards the nesting tree. As I got close I remembered last time both parents being close by and not wanting to spook them I paused and scanned the trees near the nesting tree for them. Not finding them I continued on. No Owls in sight at all. Kind of a bitter-sweet moment as I continued on down the path.

Feeling confident they weren’t anywhere near I returned from where I came. I glanced to my left and there was one of the Owlets high in a tree with it’s back towards me. I took a quick photo just to get a confirmation shot, then I made a noise so it would turn it’s head.

The rest of the morning was spent picking up more and more birds for the weekend. Then the rain came, thus ending a pretty good bird watching weekend.

My first of the year Orchard Oriole.

Warbling Vireo under a drab sky.

Here’s another bird I hope to get a better photo of, a Yellow-throated Warbler.

Notable birds for the weekend include:

1. Louisiana Waterthrush
2. Yellow-throated Warbler
3. Prairie Warbler
4. Yellow-rumped Warbler
5. Northern Parula
6. Prothonotary Warbler
7. Yellow Warbler
8. Great Horned Owl
9. Red-shouldered Hawk
10. Red-tailed Hawk
11. American Kestrel
12. Great Blue Heron
13. Great Egret
14. Green Heron
15. Sora
16. Field Sparrow
17. Chipping Sparrow
18. Swamp Sparrow
19. White-throated Sparrow
20. Song Sparrow
21. House Sparrow
22. Rusty Blackbird
23. Red-winged Blackbird
24. Common Crow
25. Common Grackle
26. Brown-headed Cowbird
27. European Starling
28. Mourning Dove
29. Pigeon
30. House Wren
31. Carolina Wren
32. Carolina Chickadee
33. Tufted Titmouse
34. Northern Cardinal
35. Brown Thrasher
36. Orchard Oriole
37. Eastern Phoebe
38. Tree Swallow
39. Barn Swallow
40. Northern Mockingbird
41. American Robin
42. Hermit Thrush
43. Turkey Vulture
44. Eastern Towhee
45. Canada Goose
46. Northern Shoveler
47. Blue-winged teal
48. Mallard
49. Wood Duck
50. Downy Woodpecker
51. Red-bellied Woodpecker
52. Pileated Woodpecker
53. Northern Flicker
54. Blue Jay
55. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
56. Eastern Goldfinch
57. Warbling Vireo
58. Common Coot
59. Killdeer
60.  Belted Kingfisher
61. White-breasted Nuthatch
62. Wild Turkey

Smith’s Longspurs

Gideon B. Smith wasn’t an ornithologist. Nor was he a bird watcher. What Gideon B. Smith was interested in was silk worms. So much so he was one of the first people to import silk worms into the United States. Which made him rich. So how did this secretive bird get to be named after him. Well he knew people. And one person he know was John James Audubon. And Audubon needed investors for his magnum opus if it was to become reality. And in return he’d name a bird after you as a special gift.

Smith’s Longspur are quite possibility the toughest of all the Longspur species to tick off anyone’s life list. As you can see by the map below that I copied from “All About Birds” web site, they over winter in the south central United States, and breed in the subarctic tundra of Canada and Alaska.

The fact that they’re drab in color and ground foragers make them pretty hard to detect amongst the corn stubble of a field that’s several hundred acres in size. With my limited experience with these birds I can only think of 3 ways that you might see them. One is if you’re pretty lucky enough to see them by the side of the road. Second if you watch them as they fly overhead and land in a field, or just keep flying away. Or third is if a farmer will allow you to walk his field where you just saw them land from when they flew over.

This was the scenario, that Jon and myself were in this last Saturday as we drove the back roads of rural Indiana, about an hour and a half from my house. As you can tell from the range map, Smith’s Longspur aren’t suppose to be in Indiana. But tell that to the birds. Word quickly spread from the initial sighting last Wednesday as local birders gathered along these farm roads scanning the fields and sky. This area between Brookville Lake and College Corner Indiana is a grid work of farm fields and country roads. Half the fields have been turned in preparation for spring crops, and the other half is left over corn stubble from last year’s fall harvest. As with our last experience with these birds in 2013, they tend to stick to the same area prior to moving on later in the month.

Ever since we started birding together, Jon and myself talked about traveling to “The Burn” and check off another life bird both of us needed. Now you might ask yourself what is “The Burn”. Well “The Burn” is an 80 acre tract of land near the small town of Crawfordsville Indiana (about halfway between Indianapolis and the Illinois border) owned and maintained by local Longspur expert Clint Murray. And the “Burn” name comes from the fact that he’ll regularly set fire to the area to help promote better vegetation habitat for wildlife, especially Smith’s Longspur and also migrating wading birds. So one Saturday we made the 3 hour, 180 mile trip, and came away with some great memories.

The photos below are digiscoped images of Smith’s Longspurs that I took while I was there in April of 2012

So this last Saturday afternoon we made our way over to Indiana an staked out the area where the Longspurs were reported. The good news is we were able to spot them as they flew overhead calling. A sizable flock of 50 to 60 individuals intermixed with American Pipits and Horned Larks. They flew over, landed in the corn stubble and disappeared. One or two would sit up on a corn stalk for a few seconds before dropping down where they’d go out of sight. This process repeated itself a few more times while we were there with the  same results. And that was how the day went. And the bad news is no new photos. Some days birding can be just like that. Fleeting moments. So technically we were able to check off our target bird for the day, just very unsatisfying.