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Your Bird Stories The following articles are contributed by Columbus Audubon members. If you are interested in contributing your own articles, contact the newsletter editor. Warblers: Yep, they are coming! Just make sure you're in the right place to see them. We weren't. By Doug and Deena Snapp When we got into birding several years ago, we eagerly waited for the first spring when, as we were told, warblers could be "dripping from the trees." When we talked to birders at Green Lawn Cemetery and elsewhere, their unified chorus was that we needed to go to Magee Marsh if we truly wanted to see warblers. Yes, Green Lawn was good, but we were constantly looking up and the birds were really far away. The consensus: Magee was the place to go. So, at dawn one morning early in May, we headed to Lake Erie because reports posted to the Internet said that warblers were definitely being seen in good numbers. We arrived just as they were opening the gate and went to the parking lot by the Sportsmen's Migratory Bird Center. There we armed ourselves with field guides, binoculars and a notepad. As we started down the trails, we did see a lot of activity in the brushy bushes and trees. That heightened our anticipation, but after about 45 minutes we looked at one another questioningly: Where were they? We hadn't seen one warbler. Sure, we had seen many birds, but they were the common birds that we had seen in many locations in Columbus. We thought, "The warblers must be here--we just aren't looking hard enough." Another 30 minutes went by, and then a photographer approached us. We started to lament that we really hadn't seen anything unusual. He looked quizzically, "Are you here to see the warblers?" In unison, we gave an enthusiastic, "Yes!!" "Then you have to drive on out the causeway. You're in the wrong place." When we could finally see the lake, we parked our car with the hundreds of other cars and made our way onto the crowded entrance of the boardwalk. We weren't disappointed. Birders had their arms raised pointing in this and that direction. Names of birds were being whispered. Most importantly, they weren't just any birds, they were warblers. Binoculars, scopes, and cameras were fixed in action. Sure enough, the warblers were dripping from the trees. Real, live birds were being mentally and visually attached to pictures in field guides. Vocalizations that we had heard on tapes were being sung 10-to-20-feet in front of us. Now we don't know if the warblers will be dripping this year when we go, but we now know to go out to the "right" place, for sure. Birdwatching at The White Pig Bed and Breakfast By Justin and Amanda Overby After a rather trying winter quarter, my wife and I were very much ready for a relaxing mountain getaway. We chose to spend a few days at a remote bed and breakfast dubbed The White Pig, located in the shadow of the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia. The house is a mile from the road, surrounded by deciduous woodland with the occasional clearing. I was certain that our relaxing getaway would include some nice bird sightings, and I was proven to be correct. Each morning we awoke to a beautiful chorus from the woods surrounding the house. The large pine trees in the front of the house were mobbed by a huge flock of Cedar Waxwings. Watching them feast on the small red berries of the trees was a most enjoyable experience. At times the tree was covered in grey and yellow. Spread amongst these waxwings were a few American Robins as well, though I could not say if they genuinely enjoyed their noisy neighbors’ company, or merely tolerated them. A Blue Jay in a nearby tree did not seem to be as pleased with these grey guests. If one of them made the mistake of landing in his tree, the Blue Jay was quick to voice his protest and chase them off! There seemed to be at least one Turkey Vulture soaring overhead at all times. Occasionally, a Red-tailed Hawk would pass by as well. There were always two or three American Crows lingering around the area as well. The walk along the trail that winds around the property held some very pleasant sightings. We were surprised to see three female wild turkeys wobble across the trail some 35 feet ahead of us. As the trail meandered along through a clearing and along a small stream we were greeted by several friendly Carolina Chickadees that seemed more curious of us than we were of them. They would fly up to very close tree limbs and look us over thoroughly as we were doing the same to them. It made us wonder just who was watching whom here! A very beautiful Northern Cardinal was also singing away near a pond brimming with tadpoles, while a lovely pair of Eastern Bluebirds scouted the area along the edge of the clearing ahead of us. Further along the clearing gave way to dense thickets along the streamside. Skulking about the brush were several Song Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows. We spotted a few Fox Sparrows as well noisily rustling around the leafy ground cover below the thickets. They were joined in their leafy explorations by a lone Rufous-sided Towhee, who was proudly carrying around a large nut. While we were watching the activities in the thickets we were startled when a huge grey mass suddenly rose from behind the thickets and slowly flew over us towards the pond we passed earlier. We stared in shock at a very beautiful Great Blue Heron and wondered just what he was doing in these parts! We quietly backtracked toward the pond and spotted him briefly again before he flew off to the northeast and out of sight. I suppose the small stream and pond made for a welcome little pit stop on his way to somewhere better. We definitely feel blessed to have been a part of it. Page
updated 04/15/06 |
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