Both of my regular birding companions had other obligations this morning, so I was able to make it to Pheasant Branch Conservancy earlier than our usual starting time. Year-round resident birds of the creek corridor were quieter than they've been the past few days. Perhaps it was just because I was there earlier and not all birds were awake yet. Still, American Robins had already dismissed themselves from the choir even by this time. The relative quiet gave me an opportunity to hear–without interference–the perfect and complex songs of a Winter Wren and Hermit Thrush. My eyes searched through the understory for the two singers, but I was content with just listening to their beautiful woodland voices. Once the sun warmed up the highest tree branches, Yellow-rumped Warblers began seeking emerging insects, singing as they fed. It was a beautiful morning and I'm glad to have spent a few hours of the day sharing the sun with those beautiful feathered creatures once again.
"Life is rebellious and anarchical, always testing the supposed immutability of the rules which the nonliving changeless accepts."
~ Joseph Wood Krutch
Pheasant Branch, Dane, US-WI
Apr 4, 2012 7:15 AM - 8:45 AM
49 species
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
American Kestrel
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler © 2012 Mike McDowell