in the drizzle

Another overcast, damp, drizzly day. You might think that this kind of weather would not be good for birds but you would be only partly correct. Perhaps not good for birds, but good for bird-watchers because it forces the migrants down. Drizzle or not, eventually they have to move around and look for food and that brings them into our purview. This was the case this morning when, just before and just after a short session of drizzle, a lot of birds were moving around.

Best bird (one of the best of the year) was a PHILADELPHIA VIREO seen up close and from all angles so there was no doubt. The white eye-liner and contrast between the dark cap and lighter back resembles a Red-eye Vireo except that the back color is quite different. The dark lores separates it from Warbling Vireo as does the contrast between the dark cap and the lighter back and also, especially, the yellow wash on the front, brightest on the breast and throat. This is a bird that I've seen only a few times around here.

Swamp Sparrows everywhere and mixed in with them, the first White-throated Sparrows of the season.

Today's warblers: Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat and a little parade of Black-and-white Warblers.

Other birds: Merlin, Greater Yellowlegs and Belted Kingfisher (all over the creek), Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Towhee and all three wrens (Winter, House and Carolina).

Eric Salzman