Birdman of Lauderdale

I’ve heard from a couple of people who band birds that they’ve caught and banded female Nashville warblers in July. The birds had brood patches, showing they had been sitting on eggs. They were found in Osseo and Brooklyn Center, so apparently they’re nesting in these areas. Therefore, the bird I saw may have been a resident and not a migrant. Maybe fall is a few months off yet.

This morning we had a Nashville warbler in the Juneberry tree outside our kitchen window. This is a delicate little bird, blue-gray head, prominent white eye-ring and yellow tummy. Is this the beginning of the Fall warbler migration?

This morning, while getting ready for breakfast, I thought I heard a veery outside. Veeries migrate through in the spring, nest up north. They’re great singers with a descending descant of flutelike tones, multiple parts all at once. It would be unusual to have one here in July, let alone singing. I turned off the radio to hear it better…but it stopped. Humph! Then it dawned on me…the bird was on the radio! MPR was doing a story on a new state park, on location up north at Vermillion Lake…I was hearing a veery all right, but it was hundreds of miles away! Makes me want to travel!

I think I’ve been most excited watching the wren family use our wren house for the first time. I first noticed them entering the box back on May 27th. There have been a pair taking turns visiting the box. Sometimes the male sits outside and sings till the female comes out of the box, maybe for food or just for a break. And then on June 15th, I heard nestlings chirping inside the box. So the eggs have hatched and both adults have been carrying food into the box and carrying fecal sacs out of the box (keeping a clean nest).
Saw the first ruby-throated hummingbird at our honeysuckle vine on May 31st. She visited the hummingbird feeder on June 11th.
A much more frequent user of the sugar water feeder has been a female Baltimore oriole. She first showed up on June 10th and has been visiting multiple times a day since. My wife has seen the male there once; I haven’t.
Our Juneberry tree has produced lots of berries and lots of bird activity with robins learning to jump at a berry and drop to the ground with it in its beak. Very resourceful. Young robins are fun to watch as they try to imitate the adults.
We’re seeing lots of new fledglings: Starlings, grackles, cardinals, robins and brown-headed cowbirds. No young wrens, yet, but I expect them soon. And the goldfinches haven’t nested yet, so their youngsters come later.
I’ve seen very few chimney swifts, which has been disappointing.
We had a small family of hairy woodpeckers visit the suet: male, female and fledgling…pretty neat.
Cedar waxwings like the Juneberry also.
A few days ago, a Cooper’s hawk did a zooming strafe from across the street and right between our two houses, looking for an unsuspecting seed eater. I don’t think it found anything that time. What an impressive predator!
Besides lollying about and watching our feeders, my pal, Val, and I did a survey at Lilydale regional park (pair of pileated woodpeckers). My son and I conducted our annual Breeding Bird Survey out toward Cokato and Litchfield. It started at 4:58 a.m. exactly on Sunday, 06/13. We had a pair of indigo buntings, many common yellowthroats, horned larks, red-tailed hawks, a few black terns, a pair of sandhill cranes, a few sedge wrens, nearly a dozen turkeys (and some peacocks, which we don’t count). Drew and I have been doing this annually for six years. It’s interesting to see the changes year to year. More on that later as I analyze the data.

My birding buddy, Val, and I co-led a number of field trips this past week.
Sat, May 22: Lilydale Reg. Pk. Saw indigo buntings, orioles, few warblers.
Sun, May 23: Arcola Mills, N of Stillwater. Part of a fund raiser for this historic property. All told we saw or heard 50 species including Northern Waterthrush, 5 or 6 other warbler species and my first Giant Swallowtail Butterfly.
Tues., May 25: Ramsey Co. Open Space, near Reservoir Woods. Robin feeding nestlings, a pair of fledged robins looking amazed at their new world. Indigo bunting, orioles, pileated woodpecker, great crested flycatcher.
Sat., May 29: Bunker Hills Reg. Pk. Great location for brown thrashers and lark sparrows. I learned that lark sparrows don’t always make their own nests but may use thrasher or catbird nests.
We’ve had 12 to 16 people on these trips. Good attendance.

I led a group of 10 Como Park Sr. Hi kids from an AP class on a tour of Como Woods this morning. It’s part of a science class they’re taking that also includes studying plants, trees and invertebrates.

We found several indigo buntings, a Cape May warbler, a pair of blue birds gathering food for their nestlings, lots of grackles, heard a great-crested flycatcher, a red-bellied woodpecker, and chipping sparrows.

We also watched a downy woodpecker bring food back to its nest cavity in a tall, dead snag…again, feeding youngsters.

So the breeding season is well underway for our resident birds.

My son and I spent the weekend of May 7-9 at St. Paul Audubon’s Warbler Weekend at the Villa Maria, Frontenac, MN. We didn’t see very many warbler species, but saw some good birds nevertheless. Had good looks at several tufted titmice. They’re not present every year, so it was great to see them. I led an owling trip on Sat. night, but we didn’t hear/see any. We watched 386 chimney swifts funnel into the chimney at the Villa Sat. evening. That’s a record for the 38 years Audubon’s been going there. It was fun to see folks again that I don’t usually get to see any other time during the year; 88 participants. Weather was coldest in 38 years, too!

Here’s an account of some of the FOYs (First of Year sightings) since my last post.

Tues, 04/27, 30 others joined my friend, Julian, and me to watch woodcocks do their courtship flights after sunset at the Arden Hills Army Training Site. Most of the folks got to see the male “peenting” as it strutted on its dancing grounds.

04/28: FOY female red-winged blackbird in the yard. The ladies come back a few weeks after the males, to see which guys have the best territories and the best and brightest epaulets.

05/01: FOY white-throated sparrow. Man, I love their “Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody” song! Welcome back, little travelers. They’re heading north to the Boundary Waters and beyond.

05/02: FOY yellow-rumped warbler, early migrant. Hopefully it means a wave is on its way. Also saw a house wren after hearing it for a few days.

05/04: Thought we had an injured hawk in the neighborhood, but it turned out to be a red-tailed hawk “manteling” a squirrel it had caught. The hawk spread one of its wings over its kill so no other hawks or eagles nearby could steal it. But with a wing extended and clamped to the ground, it was hobbling in a circle as it checked out any overhead competition…and looked injured. It flew off as I approached to see if it needed to get treatment at the Raptor Center. But it screamed at me from above as I approached the squirrel it had left behind (”Leave my food alone!”).

This weekend (05/7-9) my son, Drew, and I head to Frontenac for St. Paul Audubon’s Warbler Weekend at the Villa Maria. Let’s hope it doesn’t snow! And that some warblers can still find a bug or two to munch in 40 degree weather, and we can get a peek at them.

Heard a house wren in the neighborhood today. That’s three weeks earlier than last year. Spring is definitely earlier this year.

My buddy, Julian, and I heard Am. woodcocks calling in three different locations at the Arden Hills Army Training Site (AHATS) last night. We co-lead a St. Paul Audubon field trip there on Tues., 04/27. Meet before 8 p.m. at Arden Hills City Hall, Highway 96, west of Lexington Av.