This morning’s Friends of Pheasant Branch birding field trip was perfect in every way! The weather was beautiful, great company of folks, and birds-a-plenty! We even found one of my all-time favorites – the rare and elusive Prothonotary Warbler! It was a thrill being able to share this gorgeous bird with people from all levels of experience – everyone was in awe of the golden bird.
Most of the warbler species were down low so that we got really nice looks at Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Parula (even it's olive-colored back!) and Black-throated Green Warbler. Another highlight was watching a Green Heron catch and eat mud minnows. Everyone had a great time – this year we nailed the date with a perfect combination of weather and birds. What luck! It was the best!
Link: All about the Prothonotary Warbler from Cornell Labs
Here are the species we saw for the 2.5 hour outing:
Green Heron
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Tree swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Prothonotary Warbler image © 2005 Michael Allen McDowell