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Posted by Angel & Mariel on 13:03:48 02/26/09
Yesterday afternoon we headed over to the Dump Marsh to do a little birding. We observed Cave Swallows about 30 or so, take sips of water on the wing (incredible). Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds were interacting with each other on the reeds. We studied the RW Blackbirds pick one reed and stay near the top, while the Cowbirds would stack up two and even three on a single reed. The RW Blackbirds would move if a Cowbird came in a landed in the same reed, another thing that we noticed was the absence of male Cowbirds on the reeds only females perched on the reeds. On the snags behind us 15-20 males sat in the trees calling, but they would not go to the reeds. While observing the Cowbirds and Blackbirds we spotted some movement down low at the edge of the Typha, a Sora was foraging down there. We have been hearing this Sora since January but had not gotten a good look at the bird till now, we will post photos later. A noisy Louisiana Waterthrush was also present, a look for the Yellow Warbler that has been hanging there since December came up empty. We believe that this is a Cuban species, the bird was showing some orange flecking on the nape and head in December.
An Eastern Phoebe gave us awesome looks while it hawked insects from its perch, it posed nicely for a photograph. A possible Lincoln Sparrow flushed and flew into the water treatment plant and hid in the dry grass next to the fence. Savannahs were around calling vigorously as the sun got lower, two were perched on the wires. We watched an awkward group of three species feeding together in harmony, a Little Blue Heron (white morph) with a Moorhen and a Glossy Ibis worked the pond for some goodies. What captured our interest was that these three species stayed close together while feeding side by side as if they were all one species. A weird trio we must stay. We did not stay long enough for the Nighthawks but last time we were there we counted eight Nighthawks. No Owls this time, this place has been exceptional this winter for Great-horned, Barred and Barn Owls. A Great-horned has been perching on the poles in the old landfill almost every time that we have birded the Dump Marsh. We had a great time birding the Dump Marsh, wintering birds are moving and a new influx of birds is on its way. Let the spring migration begin, the Mockingbird outside our window was singing last night around 2 am. Spring can t be that far behind if they are singing their hearts out during the late hours. Don t forget to take some time and check out Badbirdsz2.com, we will be starting our radar interpretations and posting them after the first big exodus. We will notify everybody on the birdboard when we start posting the radar.
Nature is Awesome
Angel & Mariel
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