Please first allow me an appreciation post.  Having made the impossibly crazy decision to have rotator cuff surgery at the beginning of migration, I really enjoy the daily posts that keep me in the loop and hint at what to look for.  I even read the prose!  Meanwhile, I want to thank all of the people who in the past year have mentored, allowed me to tag along on bird counts and banding, patiently waited for me to locate a species then study it for awhile, explained the nuance of a song, called and said "let's go out birding" or said yes when I called, guided field trips, or given a wonderful Columbus Audubon presentation....you know who you are.  It takes some serious work to elevate oneself to the level of an accomplished birder, and there is wonderful expertise to be found in Ohio!

With my dominant wing in a sling, I hope to soon be back out getting warbler neck, shoulder, and probably left arm as I one-hand the bins!

One week post-surgery, today I took the advice of the sage Jed Burtt and perched myself upon a bench outside for several hours of, in his words, "bare naked birding"....meaning no binoculars....just listening and observing.   OK, the binoculars were close by for one-handed practice!  I picked the perfect day.  It isn't Magee or Hoover or Blendon....no streams or boardwalk or ravine...just a tiny back yard near OSU.....but the birds came...and they sang.

Highlights include:
~gorgeous pr of Baltimore Orioles....all day and still here
~three white-crowned sparrows under the feeder 10 feet away...here all day and ravenous
~indigo bunting on wire right above me glowing in full sun 
~yellow warblers,  singing for hours, brilliant in the sun
~male and female rose-breasted grosbeak, not together, female had a bath
~gray catbird
~first ruby-throated hummingbird...came several times...checked out feeder but preferred 
  flowers in the garden!
~northern cardinal nest with cheeping babies
~two flycatchers actively feeding but quiet.  I am a novice in the flycatcher realm, but one posed 
  for so long I have to call it a least.  The other was up high and quite yellow underneath, but 
  not a great-crested.

Note:  most of the sightings were in a tulip poplar.  The flowers were wide open, and the birds were both eating and drinking from the flowers.  At one point the orioles, bunting, and warblers were all in that tree at the same time.  Spectacular.

So be checking out the back yards!  Free entertainment!

Enjoy migration and let me know what you see,
Leslie


Sent from my iPad

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