13 May 2011

23 species of warbs, Ames only

I went to Emma McCarthy Lee Park here in Ames this afternoon and it wasn't long before I realized that the trees were dripping with warblers (or maybe it WAS the rain?).  I ended with a respectable 23 warbler species.  They are ordered from most common to least common:

American Redstart (easily most abundant, maybe 100+?)
Tennessee Warbler (40?)
Yellow Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Black-and-white Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler (10?)
Northern Waterthrush
Mourning Warbler (5?)
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackpoll Warbler
Ovenbird
Blue-winged Warbler (2)
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Palm Warbler (1)
Bay-breasted Warbler (1)
Canada Warbler (1)

Also:


Veery (1)

Swainson's Thrush (5)
Philadelphia Vireo (5-8)
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
"Traill's" Flycatcher



I didn't get many clean photos with the dim lighting; many are pretty noisy.  First up are a couple photos of a male BLACKPOLL WARBLER:



As usual, the PHILADELPHIA VIREOS came zipping right in if I squeaked or pished:


Incessantly giving its "purwee" call, this YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was a new one for the year (for me):

This "Traill's" Flycatcher wasn't calling so I couldn't tell if it was a WILLOW or ALDER FLYCATCHER:





Not great pictures by any means, but this BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER is identifiable:




CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER head-on:


This species stole the show in terms of numbers, there were likely more than 100 AMERICAN REDSTARTS this morning lining the stream banks.  At one point, I saw 4 on a tiny island in the stream at the same time.  Here is an adult male:


Sitting quietly along the streams proved to be quite fruitful.  I witnessed this COMMON YELLOWTHROAT coming out into the open:


... and this adult male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER coming down for a drink:

This CAPE MAY WARBLER also came down:


"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a...." nevermind:

Lastly, if you own this truck, maybe you shouldn't haul your 30-gallon bag of home trash to the park and fill up the park trash cans: