For weeks I’ve been waiting for the warblers and tanagers to show up, but the oak trees have been empty. Meanwhile family and friends have reported seeing migrating birds they never get in their yards like Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings and White-crowned Sparrows.
We’re almost at the peak of migration and I haven’t seen much of anything so I was starting to wonder if perhaps I had a major hawk problem in my neighborhood, or if the nasty winter and slow spring forced the birds to choose a different route this year. I even checked NEXRAD in the evenings for bird migration activity. There were definitely birds moving around, so why wasn’t I seeing any?
This morning I was putting my flats of plants outside for the day when I spotted something moving in the trees. It was a Black-throated Green Warbler:
I ran inside to get my camera. When I came back outside and looked up into the trees it was like looking into a swarm of insects. There were birds everywhere. Unfortunately it was cloudy and blustery and warblers are constantly in motion so it was hard to take any decent photographs, but I snapped some anyway so I had proof of some of my visitors.
I saw an American Redstart:
And a new one for me, the Bay-breasted Warbler:
I also saw a Blue-headed Vireo for the first time:
Then things really got interesting. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a red flash. FINALLY, a Scarlet Tanager! I usually get one or two every year but today I was in for a special treat. The entire tree was full of male and female tanagers. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. They hung around for about 10 minutes and then dispersed. I spotted a few more throughout the day, but nothing like I got to witness in the morning.
Later the sun came out and it was much easier to identify some of my visitors like the sweet little Magnolia Warbler:
And this Nashville Warbler appeared just above my head as I was standing under our apple tree:
The day ended with a visit from one of my favorite birds, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak:
Here’s the list of bird species I saw today. It’s the most I’ve ever seen in my backyard in one day. The best part is that I didn’t have to trek into the woods somewhere. I just sat in my backyard in the middle of the city of Madison and watched the birds come to me.
Today’s List:
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Black-and-White Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Cape May Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- American Redstart
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Scarlet Tanager
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
- Northern Cardinal
- House Wren
- Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Downy Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Chipping Sparrow
- House Sparrow
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- American Robin
- American Goldfinch
- Cooper’s Hawk