Hi everyone,

I’m sorry for the delay in this report.

On Friday, we returned to Magee. Although Things weren’t as dramatic as they had been on Wednesday, we had some good looks at a variety of birds. I’ll just list the new ones we saw compared to Wednesday.

Ewe stared off with a stroke of good luck. Whenever we go out to the western basin of the lake, we stop at the rest area on Rte 2 by La Carpe Creek. Usually in the spring and summer we see a variety of swallows there. Not this time. But we had the good luck to bump into some dear friends, an spent the better part of the morning birding the boardwalk with them. More eyes always help, and they showed us some things!

So here are the new birds we saw in Magee on Friday:

Mourning Dove—2
American Coot—1 (I had left this out of Wednesday’s list)
Ruddy Turnstone—3
Common Tern—4 (these last at the beach)
Double-crested Cormorant—2
White Pelican—1 (in Crane Creek)
Downy Woodpecker—1
Hairy Woodpecker—1
Northern Flicker—1
Tufted Titmouse—2
European Starling—3
Ovenbird—1 (heard only)
Kirtland’s Warbler—1 (though we know this bird, it’s rare enough there that the 20 people who saw it at the same time are a good confirmation)
Blackpoll Warbler—1
Canada Warbler—3

There were some differences. On Wednesday we only had female Cape May Warblers, but this time we also had three males. On the other hand, Wednesday we only saw male Prothonotaries, but this time we also saw a couple of females, and one of our friends pointed out that one pair was attending a very close-by cavity nest. Our Hairy Woodpecker also disappeared into a very visible cavity nest. We saw a particularly beautiful nest, on a foundation of reed straw, it was big and round and made of mud—it looked like a potter had made it. The three chicks inside kept opening up to be fed, but it was a while until the American Robin parents showed up. One removed a fecal sac, and the other began to feed the chicks. Wednesday, we had seen a Northern Waterthrush, but this time we saw three, and one was particularly cooperative, calling constantly as it moved along a swamp edge. Adding the new warblers brought our total for the two days to twenty species!
Later, we went over to Howard Marsh, hoping to see the Black-necked Stilts that breed there. We didn’t see them, but did add a sighting of a Common Gallinule, and then, as we reached the parking area, we saw half-a-dozen of the birders we had seen on the Magee boardwalk, with their long lenses, clearly interested in something. Then we saw it—a Yellow-headed Blackbird!
We also saw it flying, displaying the patches on the wings. A spectacular ending to a very good day.

This was the first time we had been to Magee for spring migration in three years, and the two visits were very rewarding!

Best wishes,

Steve Cagan