Mourning Warbler

With the beautiful weather of the last week, I have had a wonderful time getting out to go birding. Over the last ten days I have added had five new life birds to include:  Olive-sided Flycatcher, Hermit Thrush, Alder Flycatcher, Black Tern and Hairy Woodpecker. Each trip and each bird has been very special, BUT  no day of birding can compare to the experience that another birder and I had yesterday on the Southern Shore. I have never seen so many small birds, ever!

We started with La Manche Park where we phished a Hairy Woodpecker and many other common flycatcher, warblers and sparrows. Even though we didn't hear them, they came flying in at every phish.

We moved on trying not to stop too much with our destination being Bear Cove Point Road. We arrived after 1 p.m. and stopped to do some phishing. Again, in came lots of warblers, flycatchers and sparrows. Every place we stopped we drew in birds zooming around us.

 There were not many songs heard except for the Fox Sparrow, Purple Finch and Hermit Thrushes. We stopped in a usual clearing and walked into the woods. The Hermit Thrushes were everywhere filling their mouths with insects and calling madly. It was impossible to know where to look there were so many birds. After some regular phishing in flew this secretive Mourning Warbler. I couldn't believe my eyes. It stayed for less than 15 seconds and stayed under cover of the branches but I was able to capture a couple of record shots. This is my first Mourning Warbler of the year and I had been hoping to see one.
The Yellow-bellied Flycatchers absent on my last trip down were once again around.

On the trip we saw some baby Spotted Sandpipers at Cape Broyle and this great little Ruffed Grouse. This is a glimpse into a posting yet to come on the babies of 2011.

Even on the way home we continued to see birds including the Ring-necked Duck spotted last week, an American Bittern that flew over the car and an unknown duck with white under wings that appeared flying over a pond, lifted up over the trees and disappeared into a body of water behind the tree line. Never before have I enjoyed the array of birds seen on this trip. It was a day to remember, for sure! It was such a pleasure to share it with another avid bird watcher. Tip:  Do not go to Bear Cove Point Road without a pint of fly dope.

Mourning Warbler

A couple of weeks ago I went on a morning bird tour around Goulds. It was very interesting to watch a professional birdwatcher do his job. He was patient, knowledgeable and excited for us to see every bird. We went to three spots on Cochrane Pond Road. At each of these locations, Dave Brown heard and identified the song of each bird long before we saw them.

 It is easy to be dubious when someone tells you they hear five different species of birds in the woods when I don't hear a thing. That soon faded. Dave heard a bird, showed us a picture on his iPod Touch screen, called the bird and right on cue - the bird appeared.

This was the case with this Mourning Warbler. Dave cautioned us that the Mourning Warbler doesn't often show itself and that we might not see it. Nevertheless, there is was right before us all. It didn't stay long but I did manage to get a couple of shots, albeit not great ones but definitely good record shots.

The Mourning Warbler was named for its dark hood and upper breast. It is a common bird in Newfoundland and is more often found in areas of deep woods, where it frequents low areas around a water source. I just read that there are a number of warblers and a flycatcher at Long Pond this morning. That means it's time for me to go for a walk!