Just Hangin' Around! - 27 Apr 2011

While walking the Lakeside Trail at the University of Michigan-Dearborn Natural Area I came upon this Myrtle Warbler 'hanging' from an alder tree.  I didn't think that the bird was dead, but couldn't tell what had snagged him.  I took a few quick photos w/ the D300 / Better Beamer and then grabbed the binoculars.  It had snagged its foot on one of the alder cones.  But after a few moments it seemed to be done relaxin' and flew off out of sight.

Palm Warblers were the bird of the evening.  A half-dozen or so birds were working the trail ahead of me and seemingly unafraid of my presence.  I was able to walk among them and shoot away.  Unlike the boardwalk at Magee Marsh (Ohio) cover is a bit heavier here, so its much more difficult to capture clean photos of the birds.  Still, with spring migration finally starting to heat up it was great to finally see these lovely little jewels doing their thing.

Myrtle Warblers were also singing and foraging along the lake shore, but were generally outnumbered about 3:1 by Palm Warblers.  They were also foraging much higher in the canopy, so photos were harder to come by.

I did see one Black-and-White Warbler along the trail.  This bird appears to be a female as evidenced by the buffy wash along the sides and cheeks.  Note the spots along the underside of the tail!

UM Dearborn/Rouge River Bird Observatory, Wayne, Michigan, US

Apr 27, 2011 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Lakeside Trail from Maintenance entrance to N. end of Hidden Lake and back.
27 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  3
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  2
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  3
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  12
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  3
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  6
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  4
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  3
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  2
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  1
Palm Warbler (Western) (Setophaga palmarum palmarum)  7
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (Setophaga coronata coronata)  5
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S8135867

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)