A marvelous cold front moved through last week, bringing with it not only mild temperatures and rain but also an influx of fall migrants. Last Wednesday, I found a group of warblers and vireos in an area of Lake Hefner that’s usually pretty empty of birds. I photographed four new species for my Photo Gallery and (can you believe this!) it’s taken me a week to write about it!
I’ve been very busy with web development projects for clients and am very happy to be this busy! I get restless, however, and usually step away from the computer by late afternoon to chase birds and get some exercise. That’s when I happened to find the warbler and vireo “fallout” last week.
More than 20 small birds were foraging in the small trees and most of them were so close that I got my first looks at these colorful birds without the aid of binoculars. And I was taking pictures like crazy! I couldn’t identify several of the birds so I knew I was getting “new birds” and the adrenalin and tension were rising because I didn’t want to miss my first experience with a large group of these little birds.
With a lot of help from friends, I was later able to ID the birds through my photos. The new birds were the Black-throated Green Warbler (pictured), Blue-headed Vireo and House Wren. I couldn’t be happier!
The next day, Terri Underhill and I returned to the same spot. The birds were still active but they were much less cooperative, staying deeper in the trees and bushes. We tried to get deep into the bushes also but poison ivy and chiggers kepts us from going too deep. I did get another new bird on Thursday: the Olive-sided Flycatcher. We saw several male American Redstarts but I was unable to get a usable photo of this bird — a big disappointment. But I’ll be looking for it during its spring migration!
Happy birding,
Pat
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