Ovenbird!

New Beehive

This is a good week for checkout the early migrators so I went back today. A tiny bit warmer at 7:00 - 48 degrees and sunny.

I was greeted immediately by a group of male and female cowbirds and a red-winged blackbird. Someone has attached a feeder to the info board at the entrance to the lower gardens and it's attracting a wide variety of birds.

There are lots of couples busy singing, mating, building nests etc. Ms. Oriole was continuing work on her nest. It's fascinating to see how she starts it with pieces of long grass hanging here and there and how she turns it into a basket with her beak is totally amazing. A cardinal pair were present as well as a house finch couple perched atop someones plot gate. A savannah sparrow was on the ground searching for something good to eat. Song sparrows were singing as well as chickadees. I caught a glimpse of one of the few yellow warblers to be seen so far. I ran into another birder who told me the Northeast winds were funneling migrating birds to the center of the country but when the wind dies down, we would see a lot more. A dogwood is in bloom and the flowers are so delicate and beautiful.

Apparently there must have been two queens in one of the bee hives, so one must have left and hundreds of bees followed her and swarmed around her to create a new hive. Wonder if the bee person will capture them and set them up in a new wooden hive...

Flowering Dogwood

The upper gardens had several tree swallows and the bluebirds are still there so fingers crossed that they will be successful! Saw some goldfinches, blue jays, several house wrens, orioles, song sparrows and my first male hummer!! His red throat was glowing in the sunlight at a small feeder in one of the plots next to the huge honeysuckle which is not yet flowering.

I heard a Carolina wren down by the pond, but couldn't locate her. 

A last trip to the lower gardens on my way to the car yielded an oven bird. We watched it and its coloring is so good at camouflage that it disappears before your very eyes and then reappears. We had several good viewings. That was definitely a treat.