April 14, 2005 [LINK]
First neotropical arrivals
Unable to stay inside on such a beautiful morning, I went out to take some scenic photos (to be posted on this site soon), and then trekked over to Betsy Bell Hill to see what I could see. At first there was little activity, but eventually I got rewarding views of woodpeckers and a few newly arriving spring migrants who had spent the winter in the tropics. In chronological order:
- Titmice
- Red-bellied woodpecker (M)
- Yellow-bellied sapsuckers (M, F -- heading north)
- Downy woodpecker (M)
- Blue-headed vireo (first of season -- winters on Gulf coast, Mexico)
- Northern parula (M; first of season -- winters in West Indies)
- Yellow-rumped warbler (M; first in several months! -- heading north)
- Black vultures
- Pileated woodpecker (squabbling with Red-bellied WP)