Mariton: Birding in the Rain

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager.  Photos by Carole Mebus. 

“Sometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug.” – Mark Knopfler.

When I looked at the weather forecast and the radar Tuesday morning I thought we would be able to stay fairly dry on our Bird Walk. I was wrong.  (I’ll take the blame, and let the meteorologists off the hook this time.)  There was a chance of a shower, but the mist was supposed to lift.  So, a bunch of birders assembled at our meeting spot and it rained. Even though we got varying degrees of wet, we still saw some great birds. Carole cased her camera to keep it dry, but (dedicated photographer that she is) returned on Wednesday to document what we had seen.

A Warbling Vireo on its nest. There was no blue sky in the background when we saw it.

The “price of admission” was finding this Warbling Vireo on the nest. It took some time to locate it for everyone, but it was a cool sighting.  Everyone got to hear this species’ emphatic song, even with the falling raindrops.

Yellow Warbler

While we didn’t see Yellow Warblers as shiny as this sunlit male, everyone got to see them and listen to their characteristic song.

Eastern Kingbird

We got a good look at an Eastern Kingbird, with its white band along the tail. We also had both Tree Swallows and Rough-winged Swallows, Baltimore Orioles, and an Osprey.  We quit early because of the rain, but still saw interesting birds.