Hermit Thrushes

The migration season has been nicely bracketed by the appearance of hermit thrushes. They showed up in early April to begin the season, and now, in late October, they're back again. When they're gone, that will probably be it for migrants for this year. In the spring, these birds are pretty much ground feeders, but now, in fall, they're up in the trees and hedges, eating wild grapes, if that's what those things are. I wonder if some of these birds I'm seeing are the same individuals who passed through in the spring. I guess there's only one way to tell, and it's probably illegal. In any event, they're pretty numerous.

Limping into fall

This blog ran out of steam a bit after the spring migration. It's true that bird-wise, summer is duller here in Somerville. We have our regulars, of course, but not so much in the way of birding excitement. Now it's fall already, and the birds have started to go the other way. But at least around here, the fall migration isn't nearly as notable as the spring. Probably that's because birds are following a different route back to the tropics.

That said, we still do get a few migrants here, such as the red-eyed vireo shown above, and a ruby-throated hummingbird. I admit haven't been that diligent about looking. I really should turn my attention to filling out the bird list.

Warbler wrapup

May is gone, and so are the warblers. When the cold and the rain went, so did they. Time, then, for a summary of what the season brought. The first warbler (a black-and-white) appeared on the 27th of April, and from then until the 23rd of May, I saw warblers nearly every day. I logged 12 or so species, as follows (and some are a bit doubtful, based on a quick sighting, or a murky photo):

Black-and-white: 8 individuals
Black-throated blue?: 1
Black-throated green: 2?
Common yellowthroat: 7
Magnolia: 12+
Mourning?: 1
Northern parula: 8-10
Northern waterthrush: 1
Ovenbird: 2
Wilson's: 1
Yellow: 2

The magnolias were the big winners, but northern parulas were also notable this year, as were black-and-whites. Last year I saw some species that I didn't see this year (American redstart, blackpoll), but overall this year, I saw a lot more species than last year -- which, to an extent, reflects increased attention on my part.

But the warblers were only a part of the migratory picture. We also had thrushes, native sparrows, vireos, catbirds, swifts, flycatchers, hummingbirds, woodpeckers and phoebes -- two dozen or so species that came, and for the most part, went. The catbirds are still here, as are the swifts -- and, of course, robins by the thousands.

In the end, this small number of left-behinds reminds us of the basic poverty of bird habitat in Somerville. And with the migrants gone, we're left with the same dozen-odd species that are so familiar to us here year-round -- the Villens, you might say, of the avian world.

Halfway through May now, and warblers continue to appear. We've had a number of magnolia warblers this week. Here's one in flight.

Black-and-white warblers have been faithful customers over the past two weeks. And, because they're the most trusting of the warblers, you can actually get a decent picture of them. Here's one on my dogwood tree.

And finally, here's a picture that typifies the sub-par photography that's a feature, not to say bug, of this blog. But the combination of birds shown here is a little unusual: ovenbird (right) and catbird (left). Now, I ask you: what are the odds?

Today's tale of woe is how hard it is to get good photographs of birds. Here's example one:

This morning, I look out and see a flicker putting divots in my neighbor's yard. A good photo op, I say to myself, for a bird I've found difficult to photograph. The only problem -- and there's always some such problem -- is that there's a fence in the way. So I creep, creep, creep forward, hoping to get far enough up that I can get a photo over the fence. Unfortunately, I need to get pretty close, and just when I get close enough, the bird startles and flies off.

Here's example two, a black-throated green warbler (I think):

Birds in trees are always tough.

Solved

Thanks to the kind people at Mass Audubon, I'm now able to put a name to the mystery bird pictured in the previous post: a northern parula.

Warblers appear

After the hermit thrushes came and went -- in surprising numbers -- a bit of a migratory lull followed.  We had a few native sparrows, and some woodpeckers, but the wave of warblers had yet to hit.  Then, this past week, on the 27th of April, the first of them appeared, in the shape of a black-and-white warbler.  Catbirds are back, too -- a quartet at first, and now a lone settler.  A couple more days of nothing, then today, two more black-and-whites, along with an ovenbird (possibly), and a black-throated blue warbler (I think). Identification is often difficult with these skittish things up in the trees.  And sometimes, even when I get a halfway decent picture, I still can't identify the bird.  Case in point...