Warblers do exist away from Magee Marsh!

I know, it's hard to believe isn't it?  As much as I would have loved to be up on the south shore of Lake Erie this past couple of weeks, I just couldn't fit it into my budget or schedule.  Love seeing the pictures of birds coming from up there.

I haven't been out as much I have wanted to, but have managed to see some warblers.  Unlike up on the lake, I can be out for a long period of time and not come up with the numbers or diversity that I could up on the lake.  It is a lot harder to get pics!

Here are a few of my favorites:

Prairie Warbler

Northern Parula

               

Yellow Warbler

Blue-winged

Louisiana Waterthrush

Hooded Warbler

Since I wasn't able to attend any of the events up on the lake this spring, I decided to participate in the Oxbow Inc. Birdathon.  It is a 24 hour birding competition to try to see as many bird species in a 50 mile radius of the Oxbow in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  Any county that touches that circle is also fair game.  It is designed to raise money for conservation of land.  

My teammate and I saw many good birds, however there was little time for taking any pics, so there aren't any except for this one that pretty much sums up what kind of weather we were dealing with a good part of the time.  

Taken out the car window pre-start time while it was pouring down rain.  We were trying to confirm that the White-faced Ibises pictured below weren't still there. 

(These are said to be hybrids, but they were a lifer for me.  This pic was taken prior to the birdathon)

I did have a good time despite the weather.  Got to finally get good looks at a Henslow's Sparrow for the first time.  Got to see a Barn Owl as well as several Whip-poor-wills.  One of our target birds was Lark Sparrow.  I have only seen one, and it was on a birdathon.  It was a very fast, fleeting glimpse.  We checked many known locations for it and still came up without one for the tally.  I will see this bird!  It is on my target list.

Another bird that we missed was Black Tern.  I haven't been able to get out to my local reservoir recently due to rowing regattas, but I was able to find one after birdathon at East Fork State Park.

No matter when, no matter where, just get out and bird.  Bring someone new to birding.  And always HAVE FUN!