A lovely day for the Chesapeake Audubon Society field trip to Adkins Arboretum led by Kye Jenkins. We enjoyed the birds, the native-plant sale, and, as a bonus, an Orange Tip Butterfly. The Ovenbirds were out in force, along with 3 other warbler species. Just as things were getting warm and quiet, we found a group of shorebirds, which consisted of 24 Greater Yellowlegs and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs. The Laughing Gulls found us amusing.
Our favorite birds:
Greater Yellowlegs (24)
Lesser Yellowlegs (1)
Laughing Gull (12 approx.)
Brown Thrasher (1)
Red-Breasted Nuthatch (2)
Bald Eagle (3)
Ovenbird (7)
Louisiana Waterthrush (5)
Pine Warbler (8)
Yellow-Rumped Warbler (18)
On the way home, Kye and I stopped briefly at Sandy Point State Park to look for the Red-Headed Woodpecker, which we did not find. What we did find was a yellow-lored Yelow-Throated Warbler.
When it was high up in a pine tree, it sang its basic song loud and clear. But when it came close to us, affording us some great views and photos, it sang its full song clearly and richly but at about 1/10 volume. At first we thought that a second YTW was singing from a distance; then we realized that this brilliant singer was simply singing quietly, as though with a purpose in mind. The whispered songs weren't half-assed, spindly, or enervated in the usual sense that we might ascribe those terms to tired birds or some fall warblers. Simply beautiful and quiet songs. Then it left us for the higher realms and resumed singing with gusto. I don't recall having something quite like this happen to me before. Very cool.
Tim Houghton
(Glen Arm)
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