May 25 - 31

Tracked a singing chestnut-sided warbler to a neighbour's birch tree one morning.  Also, have heard a couple of times a warbler-like noise, which I am pretty sure is an American redstart - I might even have seen it once or twice, I thought I saw a little black bird with orange bits, not big or orange enough to be the oriole, but it was so quick I ignored it until I was listening to bird songs on the computer and figured I was hearing it, which made it more likely I had seen it as well. 

Common birds: swan (2 days), turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk (2 days, flying), robin (6 days), goldfinch, cardinal (pair 2 days, male +1, female +1), mourning dove (2 days), house sparrow (6 days), starling (6 days), grackle (3 days), red-wing blackbird (male 3 days, female 4 days), chickadee (2 days)

Spring visitors: song sparrow, chestnut-sided warbler, American redstart??

Heard: red-breasted nuthatch, song sparrow, American redstart

May 18 - 24

See last week re. thrushes.  Also, there was a warbler in the big evergreen one day, it was too far and too small to get a really good look at, but it was also singing, and with that in mind, it was possibly a cape may warbler.

Common birds: chickadee (2 days), red-wing blackbird (male 2 days, female 3 days), grackle (3 days), starling (3 days), house sparrow (3 days), mourning dove (4 days), cardinal (pair 5 days), downy woodpecker (2 days), blue jay (2 days), goldfinch (2 days), robin (3 days), turkey vulture (2 days), crow

Spring visitors: song sparrow, Lincoln's sparrow, brown-headed cowbird (female 2 days), baltimore oriole (3 days), Swainson's* thrush, magnolia warbler, warbler (ID? cape may?), parula warbler

Heard: song sparrow, red-breasted nuthatch

May 11 - 17

Some bird migration still - not seeing as many warblers as the last couple of springs, but seeing a few different things.  I saw a mourning warbler this week, a new one for our garden, as well as the gray catbird, which although I've heard/seen it elsewhere I don't think I've seen it in the garden before.  Another new one for the garden is the Lincoln's sparrow I've been seeing. Then, there's a warbler-like noise I heard as well.

The thrushes are tricky, the veery and hermit thrush I can ID, the Swainson's and gray-cheeked look very similar, but their song is a bit different.  Based on seeing and hearing it, I've decided to call this week's thrush the Swainson's, but I might be incorrect.

The great-crested flycatcher wasn't in the garden, it was in a local public garden/park, but still counts! I saw a warbler there, in trees, not brightly coloured.  Based on appearance and sound, I think Tenessee warbler, but not certain. 

I've also been hearing what I think is the chipping sparrow.

Common birds: chickadee (1-2, 4 days), red-wing blackbird (male, 7 days, female, 1-2, 2 days), house sparrow (7 days), swan (2 days), Canada goose (2 days), robin (7 days), blue jay (1-2, 4 days), grackle (6 days), cardinal (pair 5 days, male +1), turkey vulture (2 days), starling (5 days), mourning dove ( 1-2, 5 days), goldfinch (5 days), red-breasted nuthatch (2 days), red-tailed hawk (3 days, flying), cormorant, house finch, mallard duck, downy woodpecker

Spring visitors: hairy woodpecker, song sparrow (3 days), Lincoln's sparrow, veery (2 days), yellow-rumped warbler (ID?), palm warbler (ID?), brown-headed cowbird (pair), great crested flycatcher, gray catbird, mourning warbler, magnolia warbler, Swainson's thrush*, baltimore oriole

April 27 - May 3

Common birds: red-wing blackbird, cardinal, junco, robin, crow, house finch, cormorant, goldfinch, grackle, starling, mourning dove, swan, Canada goose, house sparrow, chickadee, blue jay, Turkey vulture, mallard duck, tern

Spring visitors: song sparrow, ruby-crowned kinglet, white-throated sparrow, chipping sparrow, brown headed cowbird

April 20 - 26

As well as the birds, a chipmunk was looking for birdseed on Friday.

Common birds: house sparrow (6 days), cardinal (pair 3 days, male +3 days), downy woodpecker (male), red-wing blackbird (1-2 males, 5 days), mourning dove (5 days), chickadee (2-3, 2 days), junco (5 days)), swan (3 days), cormorant, robin (4 days), Canada goose, starling (4 days), crow (3 days), grackle (2 days), blue jay, Turkey vulture (2 days), goldfinch (pair)

Spring visitors: song sparrow (1-2, 4 days), ruby-crowned kinglet (2 days)

April 13 - 19

So, among the birds this week, I saw a little wren, which I think was a winter wren; a thrush I couldn't see clearly enough to identify; a hawk that may have been a red-tailed, but I think was probably a Cooper's, it was flying, and just didn't look right for a red-tailed.  I also saw a fox sparrow, which is not common, I saw one just once or twice last year.  A ruby-crowned kinglet, song sparrow, and brown creepers, two at once one day.  We also had a chipmunk eating the seed the birds dropped from the feeder. 

Common birds: junco (5 days), house sparrow (6 days), robin (7 days), starling (6 days), mourning dove (6 days), red-breasted nuthatch (2 days), swan (4 days), Canada goose (2 days), cardinal (pair, 5 days), chickadee (2 days), grackle (3 days), goldfinch, blue jay (2 days), red-tailed hawk (flying), crow, downy woodpecker (male, female?), turkey vulture, cormorant

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (4-5 days), song sparrow (3 days), fox sparrow, brown creeper (1-2, 2 days), ruby-crowned kinglet

Not sure: wren (probably winter), thrush, hawk (RT? Coop?)

April 6 - 12

Common birds: junco (7 days), mourning dove (7 days), house sparrow (4-5 days), robin (7 days), Canada goose, starling (6 days), red-breasted nuthatch (3 days), chickadee (1-2, 4 days), cardinal (male 2 days, pair +3 days), downy woodpecker (male 1 day, female 1 day), red-wing blackbird (2 days), goldfinch

Spring visitors: brown creeper, song sparrow, chipping sparrow

Not sure: turkey vulture (likely), cormorant?

The turkey vulture is likely, seen flying overhead, large and dark.  The cormorant, well, water-bird like, possibly duck, but the shape looked like a cormorant.  The chipping sparrow, I'm pretty sure that's what it was.  It was a sparrow, with a red-brown cap, unstreaked breast, and seemed to have a little eye bar.  It was too quick to be totally sure - American Tree (has dark spot on breast), is also possible. 

See next post for additional tags. 

pt. 2

Adding tags for March 30 to April 5.  On one or two days, it was hard to tell whether the blackbird shaped bird I was seeing was the redwing or the cowbird, because of the light conditions.  Other days it was clear. 

July 10

Went for a walk in the local conservation area.

I saw: swallow?, cedar waxwing?, redwing blackbird, night heron, egret, cardinal (pair), chickadee, mallard duck, gull, tern, song sparrow?, and several little birds which were likely either kinglets or warblers (or a mix). 

April 15

Common birds: cardinal (pair), mourning dove, robin, blue jay, crow

Spring visitors: junco, song sparrow (?)

April 9

Common birds: blue jay, starling, cardinal (pair), robin, mourning dove, house sparrow (?), chickadee

Spring visitors: junco, song sparrow (?)

Previous Years' Birds - April 2012

I thought it would be good to compare my daily notes this year with some of the notable birds I've seen in the past couple of years.  In 2011 & 2012, I was not taking notes daily, or of all the common birds, but of some of the uncommon and migrating ones.  I wrote notes about them into a little book at the time; and I will say that I may have misidentified some along the way.  I will share them month by month, since putting it all in one post would be very long.  Where possible, I'm including what I thought the bird could be at the time, and what it is more likely to have been, in cases where my ID was uncertain. 

April 2012

golden crowned kinglet
common flicker
rufous-sided towhee
savannah sparrows? (more likely song sparrows)
white throated sparrow
red-tailed hawk

Next 'previous years' post will include May 2011 & 2012.

the ice cream / June 4th

 Another nice day outside - we even stopped for an ice cream this afternoon.  While in the area, which is near river and lake, we saw a cormorant, and I think I saw a swallow, but it's hard to say for sure.  The patch of the garden under the bird feeder is again growing bird seed, including what looks like sunflowers, so I'm going to leave a few to grow and see what they are. 

Common birds: house finch (male), house sparrow, cardinal (pair), goldfinch (pair), blue jay, robin, mouring dove, starling

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), song sparrow

Overhead: gull

May 22 / the warbler

I've noticed that I am seeing fewer migrating songbirds than I was this time last spring.  In 2012 & 2011 there were lots of warblers around by now.  That said, I am seeing some, and this morning, I saw one I don't remember seeing in my yard before.  There's also one I can't quite figure out yet.

Common in my garden: cardinals, sparrows, grackles, robins.

Spring visitors: baltimore oriole, red-wing blackbird, brown headed cowbird.  A heavily streaked sparrow with a central/chest spot - probably song sparrow. 

New today: common yellowthroat (warbler)

Not quite sure: there's a little bird, creamy underneath and taupey/olive on top, no wing bars, black eye bar.  I think it's most likely a philadelphia vireo, could possibly be an orange crowned or tenessee warbler. 

In one of my posts to come, I'll also note some interesting birds I've seen so far this spring, before beginning to write them down.