A Great Day for Birding

May 11, 2019

I went out in search of a Common Redpoll yesterday, a bird I’ve never seen. My neighbors said they’d spotted one at the nearby Flesher Field and I was eager to see if I could find one too—and get a picture!

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Common Yellow-throat
Song Sparrow

So I spent a leisurely couple of hours meandering through Flesher Field and the nearby woods in search of the elusive Redpoll, but never found one. Fortunately, when it comes to picture walks, there’s no such thing as a waste of time –there’s always something to photograph! On this particular walk, I found three other birds I’d never seen before (two of which I’d never even heard of!)— a Black and White Warbler, a Black-throated Green Warbler, and a Chestnut-sided Warbler. There were also Cedar Waxwings, Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Common Yellow-throats, and lots of beautiful little Song Sparrows.

Black and White Warbler
(didn’t have a better shot than this one)
Black-throated Green Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler

Later in the day, Mel and I joined up with a group of birders from our local Audubon Society at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery for a guided bird walk. It helped immensely to be among experienced birders, and to be with so many people with binoculars!! I was able to get pictures of birds I might not otherwise have seen—and at least two birds I’d never even heard of!