Friday, May 24, 2013

and then there were two

I've walked Floral at dawn a lot more this year than I ever have before, giving up shots at Tiscornia megas in favor of trying to get the hard spring passerines.  I appear to have missed Olive-sided, though it's probably the least difficult of this group to reclaim in the fall.  Connecticuts have been hard to come by this year, I'm aware of only one in the county so far this year.  After listening to a lot of Northern Waterthrushes making Connecticut like songs (with a few Yellowthroat impersonators as well), it was nice to have the real thing pop out at Floral this morning.  It sang off and on through the morning, but we never even got a glimpse of the bird moving in the brush.

This Mourning along the nature trail was much more obliging, by far the best shot I've obtained of this fellow skulker.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was the other passerine I was hoping for.  As one of the latest migrants we're entering its peak window.
The primary extension on these birds is as impressive as the belly is.

I tried to turn this Acadian into a Yellow-belly as well (and actually called it out as one).  I was wrong though.

That leaves me with Worm-eating and Chat as the last 2 warblers I need.  The wormer is really the last woodland bird left, unless there's a late Olive-sided lurking somewhere.

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