May full of surprises

Nature Notes for May 13, 2011

In May, every day brings surprises. I open the door every morning to hear what last night has brought. One morning, I heard a Brown Thrasher, who sang vigorously for most of the day. One day, I looked out to find six male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks decorating my garden. These black and white birds with a splash of red at the throat are incredibly beautiful birds. They were accompanied by one much less colourful female.

After a rather cold and wet April, the first ten days of May finally had a few clear, dry days. This was much better for migrants and they have been moving steadily through.

One evening, a Blackburnian Warbler (black and white with a bright orange throat) was feeding on the multitude of midges in the yard.

My first Ruby-throated Hummingbird appeared on May 7, so I put out a feeder right away. I had reports of several others on earlier dates from different parts of Northumberland.

I have seen five of the six species of swallows that breed locally – Barn, Tree, Bank, Northern Rough-winged and Purple Martins. Cliff Swallows are probably around, but they are much less common and not easy to find. They also migrate somewhat later than the other swallow species.

Savannah Sparrows are singing their insect-like song from grassy fields. Field Sparrows are singing their bouncing song at the Alderville Black Oak Savanna (and many other places, too).  Vesper Sparrows can also be heard from field edges. These are all birds of fairly open country.

My first Scarlet Tanagers turned up also on May 7. In spring plumage, these birds are well-named – scarlet red with black wings.

Bobolinks could be found last week in the few fields where they still breed. They could also be detected passing overhead by their “pink” call. This species winters in South America, so have a long flight back north every spring.

The first flycatcher to return is usually the Eastern Phoebe. They have been back for a few weeks now, but last week they were joined by Eastern Kingbird, Least Flycatcher and Great-crested Flycatcher.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are still passing through. In addition to the Blackburnin Warbler mentioned above, they were joined by other warblers – Black-and-White Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Palm Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Nashville Warbler, Ovenbird, Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart and Northern Parula.

In a forest, a Winter Wren could be heard singing its long, melodious song. I always think that this song is much too big for such a small bird.

Baltimore Orioles and Orchard Orioles have both returned to serenade us with their sweet songs. These are also bright, beautiful birds. The Baltimore is orange with a black hood and wings. The Orchard is a brick red with black hood and wings.

Most of the birds mentioned in this column feed on insects. Those clouds of small midges which have been annoying us are a banquet for them. It is because of the northern summers’ abundance of insects that these birds make that long, dangerous migration every year.

Although we consider them “our” birds, they are only here for about four months of the year. They spend most of the year in Central and South America. Let’s enjoy their presence.