Things with Wings: Blue-Winged Warbler at BHCL

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Blue-Winged Warbler at BHCL

44 degrees....but the sun was shining! I'll take it! I didn't get out early enough to be the first person there. Dog walkers were already leaving as I was coming up the hill, and another person was already doing laps in the back meadow. The trails were extremely wet, and I could feel my feet getting wet as I walked.

Dew was covering the meadows this morning. In that one simple way, everything is changed. What might otherwise be a dull (or oft-taken) subject matter becomes a new, shiny sparkling jewel. The trick is to try to capture it in a way that others can enjoy it too. It is quite a challenge. Many of my photos did not reflect what I was hoping to share with you, but I was happy with some of them. What a beautiful start to the morning!

Spotted Cranesbill

Eastern Bluebird

Pink Ladyslipper w/ one dewdrop hanging on the bottom

Chipmunk pair

Did you see the 2nd one?

Barn Swallow
again in the parking lot mud gathering nesting materials

My iris are blooming, one at a time so far, in the front garden. Here is the "bloom of the day".

Also, my local Carolina Wren was out and about today, so I caught a few photos of it before it went into hiding.

Carolina wren

I went back to BHCL at lunchtime, hoping for butterflies. It being the first sunny day after cold and rainy weather, I figured they would be out. I was not disappointed! Although they may be local common varieties, it was a joy to watch them and try to photograph them when they paused for a moment in their flights.

Common Ringlet

White-Banded Toothed Carpet moth
(Thanks to Betsy on Facebook for help with ID)

Pearl Crescent

Just after the footbridge in the second meadow, I heard a birdsong that was new to me and soon spotted a new bird, a Blue-Winged Warbler! This was in the same area where a bunch of Spotted Cranesbills (wild geranium) are blooming in the meadow, which were attracting lots of butterflies! I was walking back and forth between the warbler and the butterflies, talking out loud to myself about how great it all was, and probably looking downright crazy! It was great!

Blue-Winged Warbler (life bird!)

again

My balloon of excitement was somewhat deflated after I posted my "find" on a birding Facebook page and was told that it was a common species and that if I "tried", I could find 40+ in the neighboring town of Westboro. Harumph! It was a very exciting sighting to me. Sometimes serious birders can be a real drag! I was not on a guided field trip. I still consider myself a novice birder. I was out tramping around my own local hiking locale. I heard a new-to-me birdsong, spotted the bird high in the tree, and later ID'd it all myself. I haven't been doing this all that long, and every life bird, especially a warbler, is still a big deal!