Late April & Early May Migrants
Much has happened in the birding world since my last post! Many new FOY (First Of the Year) birds have arrived, and I am now at 133 species for my yard and 142 for all of Bruce County!
Here's a recap on the past few weeks...
April 20-26:
Mostly cold and birdless. Highlights include a Golden Eagle, FOY Broad-winged Hawk, Great Egret, and yard FOY Blue-winged Teal. I also saw 4 White-tailed Deer, the first ones that I've seen in over a year and a half.
April 27:
Strong south winds all the way from gulf coast brought up lots of new birds. A few FOY's include Glaucous Gull, Swamp Sparrow, Barn Swallow, and an early Cape May Warbler which gave me excellent views!
Cape May Warbler April 28:
Cloudy all day with on and off rain, but turned out to be a pretty decent day for birds. I got 4 FOY's which were in the form of a Blue-headed Vireo, Northern Goshawk, Vesper Sparrow, and a Northern Parula!
April 29:
Nothing new besides a few FOY White-crowned Sparrows.
April 30:
Got my FOY and second ever Winter Wren for the yard. Also found and photographed a Blue-spotted Salamander which was cool.
May 1:
May is here! I found 2 new birds: a Lesser Yellowlegs and the highlight of the day... a Black Vulture!!! This is now the fourth year in a row that I've seen a Black Vulture around my yard! Awesome!
May 2:
A Black-throated Green Warbler was the only FOY of the day.
May 3:
More south winds from the gulf coast, but lots of rain. I got 3 FOY's, an Upland Sandpiper (which gave me spectacular views!), a Solitary Sandpiper, and 2 Bobolink's. Other highlights include an Evening Grosbeak, 14 Lesser Yellowlegs, and my 200 yard bird... a Gadwall! I was hoping for something a bit rarer for my 200 yard bird, but a Gadwall will do!
Upland Sandpiper
May 4:
Rainy and wet for the whole day, but got a FOY Black-and-white Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Ovenbird, American Pipit, Eastern Kingbird, and a yard FOY Great Egret.
May 5:
A Baltimore Oriole was the only FOY of the day.
May 6:
Yellow Warbler and House Wren were the only FOY's, but a flock of 5 male Evening Grosbeaks was probably the highlight of the day.
May 7:
A pretty decent birding day overall. Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroat, Green Heron, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird were all FOY's for me. Other highlight were a couple of Eastern Towhee's, 25 Pine Siskins, and the continuing Black Vulture.
May 8:
Nothing of note besides 35 Pine Siskin's.
May 9:
I got my first 70 species checklist of the year (you can view it HERE), and saw my FOY Least Flycatcher and Red-eyed Vireo.
May 10:
No FOY's, but a couple of highlights include a couple of Evening Grosbeaks, 2 Cape May Warblers, and a Peregrine Falcon.
May 11:
Another day with no FOY's, but I did see a Red-shouldered Hawk and another Peregrine Falcon which was nice.
Here are a few pics of some more common birds...
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