Signs of Spring & More

Well, I set out on Sunday morning to find signs of spring. The first thing I noticed was a lot of song – cardinals crooning, the brown thrasher doing his couplets from atop the oak tree, the red-bellied woodpecker drumming on metal on the telephone poll, and the wonderful wandering warble of the yellow-throated warbler.

 After watching gnatcatchers flit about, dozens of yellow-rumped warblers, and hearing the red-breasted nuthatch, I head for the Unitarian Universalist Church and then down to Hinesville where my friend Nicole had an extra-special bird visitor – an adult male Bullock's oriole.

I arrived about 1 pm to find that the oriole had visited at 12:15 and again at 12:45. While waiting for him to reappear, I enjoyed watching the Carolina chickadee gleaning fiber from the twine hanger of a nest ball.

 At about 1:35, the oriole made a brief appearance, slurping up some grape jelly before flying up into the magnolia.

Gene Keferl from Brunswick timed his arrival perfectly as the bird showed up about 5 minutes after he did.

We waited around for another viewing, which came about 45 minutes later.

More signs of spring were to follow.
On Monday morning, Tim Miller called to report a First of the Season for him swallow-tailed kite in Effingham County.

On Tuesday evening, a northern parula – my first this spring – visited my birdbath.

Then on Tuesday evening, my friend Connie and I found a Louisiana waterthrush in the wet area at the back of her Talahi Island property.

 I got some not great photos but enough to show the flattened  head, larger bill, white throat, and
long, spreading eyeline.

I was thrilled since many years the Louisiana waterthrushes slip through early and I miss them completely.
















Of course, it wouldn't truly be spring without the soft warble and brilliant color of the male eastern bluebird. This handsome fellow was hanging out near a box on Pinckney Island. His date was nearby on a fence.

I can't wait to see who will show up next!