Day 189: July 7th – Lemmon Road

Warm, calm and partly sunny

       The forecast for today is for more of the same….hot, hot, hot.  Close to 100 degrees is predicted for this afternoon, so it’s a good idea to get out and back early.  By 8:00 AM, I was in Doodletown (Bear Mountain State Park) along the stretch of old gravel road known as Lemmon Road. 

        I was actually surprised and pleased to find that there were a lot of birds actively singing, and while many chose to remain under the cover of the understory and the canopy, I still had fleeting looks at a good number of birds.  The clearest shot was an upclose and natural view of an Eastern towhee which flew so close to me across the trail that I could clearly hear his wing-beats.  When not in the breeding season, the towhees generally simply give their call of “Tow-heeeee”, but now they are singing the whole song…..”Drink you teaaaaaaa”.  It’s hard to misidentify these songsters when they are in full voice.

       Another bird easily identified by song is the Indigo bunting whose lyrical “Fire!  Fire!  Quick! Quick!  Putitout!  Putitout!” is repeated over and over.  Today, however, this bunting never did give the full version, opting rather to emit its simple single chip note.  I really did not know what bird was making the chip until I was able to spot motion in the wild grape leaves and get my binoculars and finally the camera on the subject.

      Among those seen, but now well enough to capture an image were many reclusive Hooded warblers.  These were heard all along the trail singing their “Tweet, tweet, tweeteo” melody.  Red-bellied woodpeckers and Northern flickers were also seen vocalizing.  Heard but not seen were a Magnolia warbler and several Worm-eating warblers.

       The butterfly of the day goes to the Cabbage whites by sheer numbers alone.  They were my constant companions as I strolled down the gravel path.  They obviously had their favorite wildflower to supply their breakfast…..the thistle as is evident in this parting shot.