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Mariton: Weekly Bird Walks

May 3, 2019

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

We started the weekly bird walks. Tuesday started out foggy and a little misty.  We did see some interesting birds, but migration has barely started.  It was interesting that while we did hear birds singing, we didn’t hear them singing over and over again.  For instance, we heard a Wood Thrush early in the walk but we didn’t hear it singing repeatedly.  Soon the woods will resound with the song of the Wood Thrush.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Because of the fog, the lighting was very poor for photography, so we didn’t get many photos from the morning, but I went into the archives to use some of Carole’s photos from past years. We saw some Black-throated Green Warblers in the tree tops, and they were singing intermittently as we walked the trails.

Pileated Woodpecker

A Pileated Woodpecker landed where most people could watch it. And then it flew from tree to tree allowing a good look at the wings in flight.

Ovenbird

We had an Ovenbird singing from a branch, but the lighting was very poor. Still, everyone was thrilled to watch it throw its head back and belt out its song.  Watching an Ovenbird proclaim its territory through song is just one of those things that one feels so privileged to witness.  I’ve watched it hundreds of times, but I still get that thrill.

Black and White Warbler

We saw Black and White Warblers inspecting the bark for insects. The best look that we got of this ground-nesting warbler was at a stone wall where two chased each other.  We heard more birds than we saw, but we definitely got a thirst for all the migrating neo-tropical birds that will be soon visiting our area.