After several quiet weeks for migrants on the CyFair campus, I thought that the weekend's rain might have brought in some new birds. So I spent an hour around the college nature trail on Sunday morning.
After a brief glimpse of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, I came across a tree that had half-a-dozen Baltimore Orioles, the adult males looking particularly striking with their orange breasts and black heads.
The Orioles were to stay around for several days, as was the case with some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that also appeared on Sunday.
The only warbler I saw was a Tennessee.
Monday and Tuesday were better days for warblers. A male Blackburnian Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat appeared for a while but, of course, it was when I didn't have a camera with me. I was better prepared when a Black-throated Green Warbler flitted through the trees.
Tuesday brought great views of a Bay-breasted Warbler, which seemed totally unaware of my presence.
I missed out on getting photos of a Black-and-white Warbler, an Orchard Oriole, several Indigo Buntings and a Red-eyed Vireo but I managed to get a shot of my first Warbling Vireo of 2013.
I also had mixed results with flycatchers. While I missed photos of a small flock of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and a pair of Western Kingbirds, I was a little luckier with an Eastern Wood-Pewee.
A Wood Thrush (below) was a nice surprise, as too was a brief look at a Swainson's Thrush, a new bird for the college list.
So the first three days of this week produced more migrants than the previous three weeks combined. Now I'm hoping that the cold front forecast for tomorrow will bring in at least a few more visitors.
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it seems to me that the orioles don't migrate as fast as the other birds. After the fallout, we had up to a dozen orioles both Baltimore and immature and female orchard, for a few days and one pair lingered for several more days. I've also seen several around the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteBut I only saw the pine warbler one day and the summer tanager two days. I think the catbird was only around two days as well.
I think you're right, at least as far as Baltimore Orioles are concerned. I'm seeing several every day at the college and I can't believe new ones are arriving daily.
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