Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Female Parula, Magnolia Warbler and other Mt. Auburn Sightings

I made a return trip to Mt. Auburn Cemetery Sunday to see if I could spot the Summer Tanager and identify the small gray bird I saw in the apple tree up by the tower. I got a late start and arrived around 1:30pm. I went up Indian Ridge first and saw the following birds:

Female Parula
Black and White Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler


Then I cut back along the path below Indian Ridge and then went over by the sphinx and the chapel. There I saw a:

Female American Redstart


Then I took a walk up Laurel Ave and the circle at the top turned out to be a great spot! Since there were so many many people birding and walking around I wanted to go somewhere quieter in the hopes of seeing some interesting birds. Sure enough, there was no one else up there and I was able to observe a variety of warblers and several Chipping Sparrows. Here are some that I captured:

Chipping Sparrow

American Redstart (including birds found in other locations)


Black-throated Blue Warbler
As I got closer to the edge I realized the circle was right above the Dell. That explained why it was such a hot spot.

From there I moved on to the hill where the observation tower is. I waited a while and sure enough the small gray bird with yellow on its bad returned. I studied it for a while but didn't get any good photos. The most distinguishing characteristics were the yellow/greenish mantle, faint wing bars (at least one) and that it was mostly gray, had an all-gray head, and slight yellow underneath.


After eventually giving up I started making my way back to my car. On my walk back I saw:

Magnolia Warbler


And a Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 comment:

Amila Salgado said...

The Warbler diversity in your country is mind boggling. They must be filling the air with their beautiful songs in the Spring.