Damon's Birds for the Week of April 7 - April 13

You know, every day I think "will this be a week that I get shut out?" There has to be a time where there just aren't any new birds in my area that I haven't seen and I'll have to take trips further away to see any birds. Luckily we haven't reached that point yet, though it helps that the spring migrants have started to arrive.

This was a good week for me, not just for birds, but also because I got to go to a few different places. Sure they are all local, but one was a new spot for me. I started the week with a somewhat guided bird walk at Tyler Arboretum to look for Pine Warblers. I didn't see any, but I did see a Pileated Woodpecker. Later, I would go to New Castle Delaware to look for Brants, but instead saw a Pine Warbler. The lesson of all of this? If I want to see Brants, I have to look for Pileated Woodpeckers!

I did finally saw the Northern Saw Whet Owl in its usual perch at Heinz Wildlife Refuge. It wasn't there when I went back later in the week, so maybe I just barely had time to see it before it left?

Warblers have arrived! I've seen Palm Warblers in a couple places, Yellow-Rumped lots of times (already had them though) and finally saw Pine Warblers in a lightly treed area. I also completed my collection of local woodpeckers.

Oh, yeah, also stupid Blue Jays.

Note: even though I heard the Field Sparrow with its obvious song, the identification was based on sight.

78; Pileated Woodpecker; 4/7/13; Tyler Arboretum; Media, PA
79; Field Sparrow; 4/7/13; Tyler Arboretum; Media, PA
80; Cooper's Hawk; 4/7/13; Tyler Arboretum; Media, PA
81; Lesser Yellowlegs; 4/8/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA
82; Northern Flicker; 4/8/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA
83; Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker; 4/8/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA
84; Northern Saw Whet Owl; 4/8/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA
85; Blue Jay; 4/10/13; Everywhere, a long time ago
86; Pine Warbler; 4/11/13; Battery Park; New Castle, DE
87; Palm Warbler; 4/11/13; Battery Park; New Castle, DE
88; Blue-Winged Teal; 4/13/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA