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 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. 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