Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
May has been another awesome month of birding! The month started off very busy with new birds everyday for the first week and a steady amount of new birds through the rest of the month. The weather was cool to start and held back the warblers, but once the weather warmed up they showed up in droves! I was asked many times while out birding, “Is it warbler season?” and the answer was, “YES!” Warblers can be quite tricky, but they offer a fun challenge for this short time each year. Once the warmer weather hit and the warblers were migrating through, it was a race with the weather to see how much I could get out to bird. Once it warmed up the leaves really started popping making birding for those small birds very difficult, and then we had a string of rainy days making it hard to get out and bird. Mid-month once the leaves were out, I moved on to other bird species that are easier to spot with fully leaved trees. Some warblers are still around since I can hear them, but they are so good at hiding for such brightly colored birds! Overall it was a very fun month of birding. The excitement of migration was in full force this month and I never knew what I would spot as I headed out to bird. I didn’t get as many warbler species as I would have liked (but do you ever get all the birds you want?) but I still added a good amount to my Big Year list and to my Life List this month. I’m already looking forward to the next “warbler season”! May will be a hard month to beat, especially with migration winding down. I'm anticipating June being slower, but am eager to see what it has to offer! Here are some Birding Journal excerpts: Saturday, May 1, 2021 Today I got three new birds! Saw the FOY (First of the Year) Baltimore Oriole at the feeders of the Oxbow Nature Center, a Harris’s Sparrow, and FOY Indigo Bunting! Saturday, May 8, 2021 Today is my birthday and the Global Big Day! Seems fitting for my Big Year that they would land on the same day! Clare, Jaide, and I spent the day birding to celebrate both occasions. We started off the morning at Frontenac State Park by the Overlook. There were other birders that reported a Yellow-throated Warbler and pointed us in the right direction. We found him calling and got some good views of him. We also saw a beautiful Magnolia Warbler and Yellow-throated Vireo. Near the lower quarry we saw Northern Rough-winged Swallows. We saw a total of 24 species over our 2.5 mile walk. Then we went down to the Sandpoint trail. We started off great with a Blue-winged Warbler right at the start of the trail. We saw a good variety and lots of other birds on our way out to the point. Including some Wood Ducks perched in trees, Pileated Woodpeckers, Orioles, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Blue-winged Teal and more! Once at the beach there were geese, two Great Blue Herons, and lots of swallows including a Barn Swallow! We also saw a Green Heron fly by! At Sandpoint we saw a total of 33 species on our about 2 mile walk. BIG Day totals- Species: 44 Birds: 159 !!! For a morning/early afternoon of birding, we had a GREAT Big Day! Friday, May 14, 2021 This morning I decided to check out the grass walking path at Lower AP Anderson Park. I found a lot of the usuals but also two new birds. A Least Flycatcher caught my eye and finally sang so I could ID it. I also spotted a Tennessee Warbler where I was seeing some other warblers. There were lots of Redstarts out today! And I got a great view of a Blue-winged Warbler. Later in the day we biked on the Pioneer/Haycreek trail and heard many birds including Ovenbirds among other warblers like the Blue-winged Warblers which were easy to ID by their funny call. Saturday, May 15, 2021 While over at the bison pen at Oxbow I spotted an Eastern Kingbird! The body shape plus white-tipped tail made it easy to ID even without binoculars. Saturday, May 22, 2021 My nephew and I went to the Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail this morning. He biked and I walked. Right away we heard Common Yellowthroats doing their whichity-whichity-whichity call. Finally, I was able to spot a male in the trees. It is amazing how a bright bird can hide so well! Farther down the trail we heard the thump thump thump of a Ruffed Grouse drumming. We continued to hear it as we went down the path. We saw and heard quite a few other birds – mostly the usuals. May Birds: (The first number represents the number of species for the year, the number in parenthesis represents the number of species for the month) May 1 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – feeders 131. (1) Baltimore Oriole 132. (2) Harris’s Sparrow* 133. (3) Indigo Bunting May 2 – Red Wing, MN 134. (4) Ruby-throated Hummingbird May 3 – Kutzky Park, Rochester, MN 135. (5) Northern Waterthrush 136. (6) Yellow Warbler 137. (7) Northern Parula* 138. (8) House Wren May 4 – Kasson, MN 139. (9) Ring-necked Pheasant May 5 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – feeders 140. (10) Brown-headed Cowbird May 6 – Zumbro Trail, Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 141. (11) Black-and-white Warbler 142. (12) Great-crested Flycatcher 143. (13) Swainson’s Thrush* May 7 – Red Wing, MN 144. (14) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker May 8 Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 145. (15) Yellow-throated Warbler 146. (16) Magnolia Warbler 147. (17) Yellow-throated Vireo* 148. (18) Northern Rough-winged Swallow* Sand Point, Frontenac State Park, Frontanac, MN 149. (19) Blue-winged Warbler* 150. (20) Barn Swallow 151. (21) Green Heron* May 10 – Hayfield, MN 152. (22) Woodthrush* May 13 – Hok-si-la Park, Lake City, MN 153. (23) Cape May Warbler* 154. (24) Veery 155. (25) American Redstart May 14 – Lower AP Anderson Park, Red Wing, MN 156. (26) Least Flycatcher 157. (27) Tennessee Warbler* 158. (28) Ovenbird – Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail, Red Wing, MN May 15 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 159. (29) Eastern Kingbird May 21 160. (30) Chimney Swift – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 161. (31) Common Night Hawk – Red Wing, MN May 22 – Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail, Red Wing, MN 162. (32) Common Yellowthroat 163. (33) Ruffed Grouse May 30 164. (34) Yellow-headed Blackbird – Garrison, MN 165. (35) Red-eyed Vireo – Emily, MN May 31 – Oxbow Park – Main Picnic Area, Byron, MN 166. (36) Warbling Vireo* Bird Species this Year: 166 Species for May: 36 Days Birded this Year: 60 Days Birded in May: 17 Lifers in May: 11 (Birds with an (*) are Lifer Birds) Read my other Big Year related posts by clicking the button below.
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