Year of the Chat - 06 Jun 2023

 

I was hoping to get back to Oakwoods Metropark to look for Blue-winged Warblers. This morning I got to the Equestrian Landing parking lot at a bit after 7 am. Wildfires in Canada have left a significant haze in the air and the rising Sun was showing it. A Strawberry Sunrise?

No sooner did I get out of the car that I heard the Yellow-breasted Chats singing from their territory just north and east of the parking lot. I decided to check them out before looking for the warblers. As I walked the trail one bird was calling from a bare snag while a second bird flew across the field to another snag.

They were playing hard to get so I didn't wait around. I did photograph one Willow Flycatcher at a distance. 

A half-hour later I took another image of the Sun w/ the 600/4. 

I headed back past the parking lot and walked the north-south horse trail just west of the railroad tracks. A White-tailed Deer checked me out a distance. 

The open field was alive with the calls of Yellow Warblers and Indigo Buntings, but no Blue-winged Warblers. 

I walked the trail north, then the loop to the east toward the river, and then back to the trail where I started. The other day Brian Beauchene pointed to trail marker 18 and told me that it curves around the woodlot to the west where we heard the Acadian Flycatcher and might be a good place to look for Barred Owls. I decided to follow it and look for Barred Owls.

No owls were seen, but I began hearing another calling Yellow-breasted Chat! Just up the trail a bright male bird was calling from the trees next to the trail and easy to photograph.

As I photographed the chat I began to hear a calling Blue-winged Warbler, but was unable to locate it.

After a few minutes I continued back to the main road and to the parking lot. I then drove over to Nature Center to walk the trails near the river.

The Big Sky Trail was relatively quiet. Red-eyed Vireos and Eastern Wood-Pewees were calling, as well as a Great-crested Flycatcher. No photos were had, but the open meadow presented another deer.

As I neared the Nature Center I came upon some Hoverflies in the trail ahead of me. I tried to get some pics of the small bee-sized flies and managed pretty well with the 600/4.

After talking to Kevin Arnold for a few minutes I walked down to the Huron River and heard the Prothonotary Warbler calling from the shoreline. With a school tour arriving I headed back to the car and back home.

Oakwoods Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jun 5, 2023 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Equestrian Landing trails and Nature Center
36 species

Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)  1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)  1
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)  2
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)  1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  2
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  1
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)  1
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  1
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  2
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  2
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)  1
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  6
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)  6
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)  3     Pair calling /nesting just northeast of Equestrian Landing parking lot. Third bird photograhed and on territory northwest of the parking lot on trail marked 18. Large yellow warbler with white eye-rings and forehead. Photos.
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  2
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  2
Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera)  1
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)  1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  3
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  4
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S140637447

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