Things were fairly quiet at Blendon Woods Metro  Park this morning. Gone is
the migration rush and the resident species are down  to the task of
rearing the next generation. Although we had birds singing along  much of the
trails there was little activity or movement. We managed to get  decent looks at
a few species, mostly on the Brookside Trail. Several came as a  surprise
but most were to be expected. We observed a male Cerulean Warbler, a
Yellow-throated Warbler, several Red-eyed Vireos, and a family of Tufted  Titmice.
Heard but not observed were Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Ovenbird,
Scarlet Tanager Wood Thrush and then a call I seldom hear, a Veery. At first my
 ear and brain knew they had experienced the call but they refused to
cooperate  with each other. I didn't lock down the identification until I got
home and  played several likely candidates from my Peterson Multimedia Guide
for North  American Birds. In listening to the Veery's call on the CD-ROM
there was no  question of the singer's identity. I'll have to check the location
out again  after a short lapse to see if the Veery just might be nesting at
Blendon.


    Later I side tracked on the way home via Oxbow  Road. Things seemed to
start slowly at this location as it was overrun with  fishermen during late
April and early May. The fishing activity has slowed  almost to a crawl
except on the weekends and the birds are more obvious. Today I  had 5 pairs of
Prothonotary Warblers confirmed at Oxbow Road. One male likes to  sing from a
perch next to the road. With the car window down I thought for a  second
that he was going to land on the wife. She was delighted by his show as  he
perched in front of her and belted away. With the sunlight beaming down on
his breast his color just outright captivated you. He couldn't be flashier if
he  were armed with neon. Three of the Oxbow Road territories can be viewed
easily  from the road. A little phish usually brings one of the males up to
out do  you.


Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve

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