On The Road – Albatrossity – May, she will stay

Speaking of mosquitoes, I was lucky and got a picture of one in flight, at top left of this portrait of one of the backyard Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus). These birds were unusually vocal this spring, it seems. Every time I went out on the deck I could hear one or more of them churring or squawking in the back yard. Click here for larger image.

Another local treat this spring was our yard-resident and flaming-red male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). He and his mate raised an early brood in a boxwood shrub at the corner of the house, and we have already had fledgling cardinals trying to figure out the seed feeder or water trough for themselves. Hopefully they will successfully raise another brood or two this summer. Click here for larger image.

Lincoln’s Sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii) are late-lingering winter residents here, and usually will leave for the northlands sometime in late April or early May. Sometimes they practice their singing before they leave, and it is a real treat to hear that song here, since they usually reserve it for their high-altitude or high-latitude breeding sites. Click here for larger image.

April is the month of the Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum); when they return to Flyover Country, they are both abundant and loquacious. We had a very loud and constant stream of thrasher songs in our yard this spring. They have quieted down now; raising babies does not leave much time for anything else. Click here for larger image.

Another vocal and abundant songster in the local woodlots, the Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) is visually undistinguished, but it makes up for that with sheer vocal volume. The song is musical and complex, with various mnemonic translations that are all hilarious (“Iggley, pigelly, wigelly, pig;” “if I sees you, I will seize you, and I’ll squeeze you till you squirt;” “chase me and if you catch me squeeze me”). Our local birds are the eastern subspecies (V. g. gilvus), and may be a separate species from those in the western part of the country (V. g. swainsoni ). Click here for larger image.

Swallows are a traditional harbinger of spring, and these Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) return every April to bridges and picnic shelters across the continent. They immediately start construction of their distinctive mud nests, one mouthful of mud at a time. Click here for larger image.

Swainson’s Thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) pass through here spring and fall; they are abundant migrants but skulky and hard to photograph. Their song is a beautiful jumble of typical thrushy fluting notes, but seldom heard here in Flyover Country. I felt pretty good about being able to get this shot of one of them mostly out in the open for a few seconds. But it did not sing, alas. Click here for larger image.

This bird, a Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia), also has a distinctive song, but it is so high-pitched that old ears like mine can’t hear it unless the bird is perched on my head. Turn up the volume if your ears are like mine! This bird is one of a pair that claims our back woodlot as their territory each spring, and I was glad to see them come back again this year. Click here for larger image.

Perhaps the most longed-for bird for North American birders, the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is still expanding its range here in eastern Flyover Country. This spring I sighted a singing male in a county north of here. it was the first record for that species in that county, which is on the Kansas/Nebraska border. There are a few historical records for Nebraska; hopefully one day this stunning species will be a regular breeding species there. Click here for larger image.

Female Painted Buntings have a very different plumage than the males, but they are beautiful nonetheless. Their yellow-green plumage is practically fluorescent, and is a color found in very few other North American birds. Click here for larger image.