Species covered:

Warblers: blue-winged, probable golden-winged, common yellowthroat, yellow,
hooded, Louisiana waterthrush, blackpoll, yellow-rumped, yellow-breasted
chat

Others: great crested flycathcer, indigo bunting, scarlet tanager,
white-crowned and white-throated sparrows

- - -

I missed three days of serious observations here at our farm on Flint Ridge,
due to business travel to Chicago and other activities, Thursday through
Saturday . A brief (too brief) walk Saturday suggested mostly by the sound
of yellow-rumped warblers that the migration waves had begun in earnest.

The past couple days have been great here.

Personal highlights:

"Yard Bird 130" is orchard oriole. I have long considered that the species
might show up. Our pastures and successional field are bordered by a forest
edge not unlike other places I have seen orchard oriole. So Sunday, when I
heard the sharp "checkk" of an icterid in the brush I was delighted to see
the darker of the local orioles. One of the delights of being a land
owner-steward is to maintain one's property in such a way to encourage
certain "natural" things to happen. As with all forms of farming there is no
guarantee that choices will yield the intended results. Orchard oriole is a
delightful result! I felt a little like this about the prairie warbler of
2009. Life has its rewards.

A little after the orchard oriole I got to the "homesite,"where we have a
picnic table and a campfire site. It a good place to listen for what's
happening in the edge surrounding the entire "back forty," the successional
field. This little area is not as large as I would like, it's actually about
six acres. I mow and thin portions of it at irregular intervals, to give it
that "neglected" field look. It is remarkable how much effort must be put
forth to maintain an easily accessible "neglected" field, if one wants to
make nature observations, and develop horse and foot trails through the wild
fields. So I mow a path most of the way around the edge, as well as a series
of crossing and tributary trails, anywhere I can get power equipment during
dry times of the year. (Certainly not now!)

While sitting at the picnic table I heard a strong voice. A pair of great
crested flycatchers appeared in the thicket were the ash snag used to stand.
I have seen them here on the farm before, but it has been a few years. The
behavioral highlight was watching one of them swoop down, catch a butterfly,
return to its perch, and gobble it down. The beautiful eating the beautiful.
A lesson in whatever you want to make it.

Yesterday I spent another couple hours in the edges and open forest
sections, between the horse pasture and the deepest ravine. Baltimore
orioles acrobatically gleaning in the tops of the newly leafing maples were
the background amusement as I waited for other interesting species to show.
I carried one of my small wooden benches from the homesite/campsite to a
series of advantageous spots to patiently view the proceedings, giving my
aching right knee a break. Yellow warbler, common yellowthroat, and
odd-singing blue-winged warbler (I was hoping for golden-winged), a host of
yellow-rumped, indigo bunting, scarlet tanager, etc.

As I sat on the bench by a flowering dogwood a Nashville warbler flitted
down to within fifteen feet, and proceeded to conduct a seminar, "Nashville
warbler 101," for my education. Now, I know this is not an uncommon bird. I
see several of them every year, and I can identify it by sound as well as
sight. But this guy posed in every direction, sang the classic two-part
song, and just generally showed off for well over a minute.

Then I heard a golden-winged warbler! This would be a lifer for me. I am not
counting it, because it's my list and I have my own rules. For lifers I need
an actual sighting. Other times I accept an audible, if I am completely
confident of the identification, and I am getting better at birdsong.
Knowing that I will likely hear new birds before I see them, I have been
boning up on probable candidate lifers on xeno-canto.com in preparation. I
heard the golden-winged sing four times, but failed to see it. It was the
classic Bee-Bzz-Bzz-Bzz, more deliberate than the lazier song of the
blue-winged, so I am confident this is what I heard. I always investigate
any odd-singing "blue-winged" that I hear. Golden-winged is a species I have
long anticipated here. We have the right habitat, witness the breeding
blue-winged warblers. I will continue to monitor this area of the property
until I leave for California next Tuesday, just in case it lingers.

Other highlights the past couple days include a blackpoll warbler in the
scrubby woods below the sheep barn. Both white-crowned and white-throated
sparrows are moving through in numbers. The yellow-breasted chat is back,
singing up a storm, this year in the edge east of the homesite/campsite. I
hear hooded warblers in several places in the wooded ravines. A Louisiana
waterthrush is singing more insistently down by the falls.

The wet weather has been good for birds, more difficult for people and
horses. Our hilltop bedrock is dominated by Middle and Upper Kittanning
Clays, the stuff that made the Ohio ceramic industry what it once was. The
hill is fully saturated, and overnight we have received another inch and a
quarter of rain. Mud, mud, and more mud!

Meanwhile, I'm very happy about the birds. The mud is just a fact.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County

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