Northern Oriole

     Just before it started to get dark this evening, I happened to catch a glimpse of a bird fly from the top of one tree to the top of another. Although the lighting was such that I couldn't see any color, something about the way it flew made me think it was something different from the norm. I ran for the binoculars and sure enough, it was Mr. Oriole. There is no rival to the Orioles orange color. Their orange makes even the orangest orange look yellow.  

Now Arriving... The Wood Thrush

    Perhaps of all the birds that stay in our area, the Wood Thrush has the most beautiful song that you will ever hear. Ever walk in the woods and hear a pure flute-like song? Chances are good that you have heard the Wood Thrush. The Wood Thrush populations have been in a state of decline for several years now. The problem is... you guessed it... people. It is mainly the deforestation that is going on that gives them problems.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

     Everybody who is interested in birds should start paying attention to everything that flies as of right now. Today's bird sightings lead me to believe that either the birds are migrating back earlier than usual or the storms we are having from Texas to the East coast are moving the migrants in a different than normal pattern. Normally I wouldn't have this male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in my yard for 2 more weeks. These birds spook easily and stay near the tops of trees and eat leaf buds but in a peaceful setting they can be lured down to feeders with a supply on black oil sunflower seeds. Although this individual could be early, chances are that others are right around the corner since the Catbird showed up today. Grosbeaks normally arrive within a day or two of Orioles, Scarlet Tanagers and Yellow Warblers.
     It is not out of the question that we could get a few birds that normally live in the Rockies and further west, showing up here because of the storms "guiding" them this way. We also need to keep an eye on where the cold front and warm fronts meet because migrating birds tend to stack up directly below the front line. We may want to put our oranges out now to draw in the Orioles. Keep your eyes peeled gang cause here we go!

The Last of the Mimics

     The Gray Catbird showed up in our yard today to complete the collection of our breeding season mimics. The Gray Catbird is a fruit and insect eater. They love oranges, grape jelly and are the only bird I am aware of that likes to eat Japanese Beetles. Great to have around the garden unless your garden has berries.   

Double Crested Cormorant Flyover

      I'm sure by now most of the Double Crested Cormorants have already passed me by. Today sighting was the first pair I've seen flying north over my yard. No photo. Google it :)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

    One of our smallest and most hyper little birds, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is among the first wave of species to return to our area. They rarely sit still for more than 5 seconds. Although they are tiny and hard to get focused in the binoculars, their actions and size can give away their identity even from a great distance. I saw this one in a tree that was quite far away and knew that it was indeed a Kinglet before I went and got the binoculars. It is the more common of our two Kinglets and we see a couple in our yard each year, both in the Spring and the Fall. The red crown on their head is not always visible. As with many of the "crowned" birds, the Kinglet will "puff up" the feathers on top of its head when it is angry and reveal the red crown.

First Warbler of the Year

Yellow-rumped Warbler

    The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most commonly seen Warblers in the Central Ohio area. This species is one of the first to return to our region and one of the last to leave in the Fall. There have been reports of some individuals hanging around in the Winter as far north as Maryland. They are nicknamed "Butterbutts" because of the yellow patch of feathers at the base of the tail.

First Chipping Sparrow Returns and a Swift Sighting

Chipping Sparrow

     The return of the Chipping Sparrows to my yard signifies a couple fairly big changes in the species of bird populations around my yard. The sad part of the changes means that the Dark-eyed Juncos that have stayed with us all Winter will be heading back north very soon and will be quickly followed by our White-throated Sparrows. We will not see either species again until mid-October. The good thing about the Chipping Sparrow's arrival is that it signifies that many other species are very close to being here. Within two weeks the migration floodgates with burst open with over 100 new species returning to our area.

Once Per Year Visitor

    Pileated Woodpecker

     While the Pileated Woodpecker is a year round resident, they tend to stay more around older forest areas in Licking County Ohio, therefor I only see them in my residential area once or twice a year. Today was one of those days. I didn't get a photo of the one that visited today but I do have this one from a few winters back.

I've Been Expecting You

     Welcome back Brown Thrasher. Typically the Brown Thrasher is the second breeding season resident to show up in my yard. It normally follows the Towhee every year so when I see my Towhee, I knowhee that the Thrasher isn't far behind. Thrashers are one of our migrant Mimics, along with the Mockingbird (year round resident) and the Gray Catbird who is also a migrant. Of the three, the Thrasher has the purest voice.

     The three mimics can be identified by voice most of the time. Here is a breakdown of their song traits.

Northern Mockingbird - Sings frequently and usually repeats the same song 3 or 4 times. If you watch the Masters and listen, you can hear the Mockingbirds in the background especially around "Amen Corner."
    
Gray Catbird - The Catbird has the least accurate imitations of the other bird songs. It can be told apart from the other two because it mixes in the "mew" sound of a cat.

Brown Thrasher - The Thrasher has the most accurate renditions of the three.

If you hear the songs and are trying to figure out which of the three it is then try this. This method will help you correctly identify a singing hidden mimic over 95% of the time.

Does it repeat each song about 3 times? If not you can almost always eliminate the Mocker.
Does it mix in the "mew" sound? If not you most likely are hearing a Brown Thrasher.

The one stumbling block with these steps is that you could hear the 'mew" sound and if you are unfamiliar with the voice quality, assume that the singer is a Catbird but it is really a Thrasher mixing in the songs of a Catbird. It has happened to me a number of times.

First Brown Creeper of the Year

    On April 1st at Dawes Arboretum, I saw my first Brown Creeper of the season.  The Brown Creeper doesn't stay in Central Ohio year round. It is just passing through on its way north to Michigan or Canada. While I have seen many of these through the years, this one was more significant because it was a Life Bird for Jacob Husk. We were having a meeting and I looked out the window to see it crawling on a tree that was very close to the window. In addition to the Brown Creeper, I saw several Juncos and White-throated Sparrows.

Common Goldeneye at Dawes Arboretum

     A lone Common Goldeneye was swimming in the pond nearest to the Daweswood House Museum on April 1st. No it isn't an April Fool's joke. One of the employees at The Dawes Arboretum said that it had been hanging out there for a couple days. I have no clue how long it will stay but if you haven't checked that species off of your list then perhaps a little drive to Dawes is in order. Tell 'em Steve sent you. No, saying that won't change a thing. I just thought it sounded cool there.

Our Eastern Towhee Returns... Finally

   Each year around March 10, we get a Male Towhee migrate through our yard. For the last 10 years this has been a reliable signpost of Spring but this year he was 2 weeks late. I'm not saying that means much... I'm just sayin'. It has been an extended Winter and we've only had a couple semi-nice days so far this Spring here in central Ohio. I don't blame him for not wanted to come as early this year. I'd have like to have been hangin' out where he was. He has stayed much longer than I've ever seen one stay. Usually it's a one day visit and a sighting on the next day is pretty unusual. The temperature is just starting to warm up so we will see if he can extend his record length visit to 10 days.