Posted by Alex on April 23, 2003 at 10:24:08:
Since I have Spring Break now, I am currently spending my days at home. This gave me the chance to keep my eye out for every single bird during migration. I woke up early to warbler-watch. I treated myself to a glass of orange juice, and took my binoculars to rest in my birding hammock. The second I opened my door, tsips, chips, and other warbler noises overwhelmed my ears. I ran back and forth, with atleast 10+ warblers in my oak trees. I saw them, but no i.d., and they flew off...for now. About 2 hours later (9:45), I went back out, with luck this time. My first bird was a single redstart, along with a couple prairies. But the "tsips" were coming from higher up the trees, and they were not responding to my pishing. I climbed up onto my roof, giving me a one story boost into the tree. And there he was: A male Blackpoll Warbler, who came down for a moment about 15 feet away from me. He was'nt a lifer, but still, it was my second occasion seeing one, and my other time seeing them was about 4th grade. After paying more attention, I found many more, about 40 feet high in the trees. The females were present too, but not as pretty. I will continue watching these birds today, and hopefully they will be here tommorow, but they probably won't. Now I will add this bird to my yard list. I love Spring Migration.