Day 113: April 22 – Lake Ashby Rainy Day Birding

Overcast with periods of showers, low 70s

       We continued our quest for migrating warblers with continued lack success.  The day began with threatening weather, but the forecast was for widely scattered showers and later clearing skies.  Well, Mother Nature scattered a few of those downpours right in our direction.  The first came as we walked down the dirt trail towards the lake shore.  It started with a few drops here and there and ended with a whole slew of ‘em dropping on our heads.  I gloated about the fact that I was the only one to bring raingear in by daypack and managed to keep myself and my gear relatively dry. 

       We waited out the rain under the cover of the picnic pavilion and entertained ourselves with a visit from the Carolina chickadee which flew right under the pavilion roof.  Too dark and too quick to get off a decent shot, but nonetheless, he was a welcome sight.

       Once the rain subsided, we ventured back outside and found our one and only warbler species of the day…..the Northern parula.  The parula has been our mainstay as far as warbler sightings go since the Palm and Yellow-rumped warblers headed north last month.  The parulas are wonderful to look at and let you know where to look with their distinctive song.

       Finally out to the lake and the boardwalk.  The weather finally looked like it was beginning to clear as we had sightings of a Little blue heron and a pair of Black vultures. 

       Still, we wanted new warbler species and didn’t tarry here on the water.  Once in the woods, things started to pick up as the bird song was constant.  Tufted titmice, a Red-eyed vireo (first-of-the-year),  several more parulas, and a Pileated woodpecker had us hoping for more birds and the warblers we were looking for.  Suddenly, the rains returned and after a brief soaking, the songs had subsided. 

       As we walked back towards the parking lot, we did find a pretty Ebony jewelwing damselfly to photograph. 

       We are still left wondering, “Where the heck are all the warblers?”  Hopefully, we’ll find that they have all beat a hasty retreat back up to New York and are awaiting our arrival there in less than two weeks.  We can only hope!