Late February additions

On Monday 2/26 I decided to check out Kilby Road Gravel Pits to see if I could find anything on the water that might be of interest. I have seen recent reports in other parts of the state of Red-necked and Eared Grebes, White-winged Scoter and Long-tailed Duck. Only waterbirds I was able to find were one Mute Swan, six Canada Geese, six Red-breasted Mergansers (3 males, 3 females) and three Common Goldeneye (2 males, 1 female). I found a singing Horned Lark in the gravel area and got really good scope views of it with the little ear tufts. Some other horned larks were flying over head but then two different birds with rich buff underparts, short, squarish tails were calling "pip-it, pip-it!" as they flew overhead. American Pipits! These are sometimes hard to come by and this is the way I most often see them, unfortunately. But they still count as #102 for the year!

On Wednesday 2/28 I decided to try for Pine Warbler at Mitchell Memorial Forest. I parked at the Pine Meadow Youth Camp parking lot and found a singing Eastern Towhee which I was able to photograph. Then I heard a very sweet, musical trill on one pitch. The similar sounding Chipping Sparrow commonly nests here, but this seemed to be too sweet for a Chipping Sparrow. I tracked the bird down to the pine stand across from the play ground and near the stone shelter parking lot. I watched for movement in the pines where the sound was coming from and then, viola! There it was! A quick check with the binoculars confirmed a singing male Pine Warbler! This was my target bird here and my main reason for the visit. Success! Pine Warbler is #103 for the year.