Yellow-throated Vireo

June 23, 2012.  We did the second of two Forest Bird Monitoring (FBMP) surveys early this morning; it’s been nearly three weeks since the first one.  It had been cool overnight, a blessing because it kept the mosquitoes down.

This second survey had a different feel; there was less of a sense of urgency and more of an ‘I just want you to know I’m here’ tone to bird song.  Much the same species were evident: Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Hairy Woodpecker, Common Yellowthroat and Ovenbird among them. Later as we left the woods a Yellow–throated Vireo ushered us out, singing high up among the Sugar Maples and oaks.  Sounding a bit like a Red-eyed Vireo with a slur, they’re the Sean Connery among vireos.  Instead of a clear-toned “three eight,- eight three”  or “see me – here I am – way up – tree top”  it was more like “tree ert – treee– tree ert.” Yellow–throated Vireos are not as abundant as the Red-eyed Vireo and this was the first one I’d heard in my two trips into these FBMP woods, it got a wow out of me and was my Bird of the Day.

Later I walked along the river flats at the bird observatory and reveled in a perfect summer day: not too warm, a light breeze and the pervasive sweet clove-like fragrance of Common Milkweed in the air.  It’s a little odd and perhaps anachronistic that Common Milkweed should be officially a ‘Noxious Weed’.  It is one of a family of several milkweeds with attractive, though in some cases subtle, flowers, and its fragrance is among the best of summer.  Its cousin the Butterfly Weed bears large clusters of eye-popping orange flowers.

Along the path Song Sparrows and a Common Yellowthroat all watched me carefully to make sure I didn’t try to dive into the dense grape and dogwood tangles to eat their babies.

A pleasant surprise came later when I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling softly from a cluster of tall Hackberry trees and try as I might to see it, I was reminded that cuckoos prefer to be heard not seen. I watched in admiration as a Northern Rough-winged Swallow wove large, twisting, roller coaster loops over the river, swerving and stalling to catch flying insects at each turn. Its sharp, high-speed precise aerobatics are the stuff of dreams for the folks at McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed and General Dynamics.