Eager to see early fall migratory birds, a group of birders enjoyed over 40 species for the Madison Audubon Warbler Walk held this morning at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. The weather was gorgeous and cooler temperatures meant mosquitoes weren't quite as bad. The birds were a little difficult to spot in the dense leaf cover at times, but we earned great views by being patient. Highlights included Golden-winged Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler and Wilson's Warblers – 14 warblers species in all, plus other migrants and resident conservancy birds...so many great birds to watch. I continue to be fascinated by the foraging technique of Golden-winged Warblers probing clusters of curled-up dead leaves for spiders and insects. You can almost predict where they're going to fly to next by looking at surrounding habitat for similar leaf clusters.
I hope all the field trip participants had a good time - I sure did!
Field Trip Sightings - 8/30/2007:
Great Blue Heron
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch
Wilson's Warbler image ©2007 Mike McDowell