Day 87: March 27th – Tuesdays at the Preserve

Sunny, warm and low humidity

       A perfect morning to be out birding as we are joined by 14 other birders at the Indian River Lagoon Preserve Tuesday morning walk.  Our Massena friends are with us today as is fellow Hudson Valley resident Alan who has become a Tuesday regular.  The crowd is expected to thin out considerably beginning next week as April is not one of the more popular “Snow birders” months.  Nonetheless, there will still be a few of us who will hang on for the next two weeks in the hopes of seeing the influx of warblers that we expect (or at least hope for!)

       Today, we were greeted by the Florida Marsh Rabbit as we entered the wooded portion of the preserve.  This rabbit resembles the cottontail we find up north, but is smaller, lacks the white “cotton” tail,  and is always associated with marshy grounds.  He certainly was not shy as we approached and got several images before he hopped back into the thickets. 

       There were plenty of Carolina wrens around as usual, and also as usual they were very difficult to spot.  Only Dan, one of our north country friends, was able to get an eye on the bird before it again dropped down out of sight.  Obvious in their lesser numbers were the Yellow-rumped warblers which have apparently started their trek north.  After having them in large numbers all winter, today they were downright scarce.  We did have two new entries into the field of warblers as both Prairie warbler and Northern parula were on site.  The parula came down from the canopy and gave us all a nice look, a “life-bird” for many of our visitors this morning.

       Heading down to the lagoon, we found a pair of Blue jays interacting high in a tree along the trail.  The higher perched bird would sing its usual harsh Blue jay song and the lower bird would then answer with an ethereal flute-like whistle while bobbing its head up and down.  I am guessing that this is a mated pair and that this is part of the courtship behavior.  Yet another sign of spring I keep seeing this month.

       Down at the water’s edge, the tide was out and we had little trouble in spotting a good number of waders…..Great egrets, a Little blue, White ibises, and Snowies.  As we scanned the water, a large flock of Double-crested cormorants flew overhead in formation.  I was surprised at the neat, clean V-shape of the formation as these birds are known for their fluid wavy patterns which flow from straight lines into wavering V’s.  Again, I wondered if this was a major push north, back to the birds’ breeding grounds….yes,  perhaps another sign.