June 5 2019. Westover, ON. In a late-May post I mentioned that where utility rights of way cut through woodlands they are attractive to birds and birders alike. The big electricity utilities are required to keep the ground below the march of steel-towers clear of undergrowth. So, every few years, teams cut and clear all the underbrush. The resultant clearing and then slow regeneration makes for interesting birding.
This morning I tried exploring a small corner of mixed woodland bisected and trisected by a gas pipeline easement and a hydro-electric transmission corridor. It’s a place worthy of much more time another day but I got stopped by the approach of a thunderstorm.
I spent time trying to coax Prairie, Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers from where evidently they don’t exist in the defining edge of scrubby pines and hawthorns, . Field Sparrows and Grasshopper Sparrows watched me carefully and unseen Ovenbirds and Eastern Towhees sang from within the woods. It was all very soothing (if a touch fruitless) until a surprisingly loud crash of thunder made me re-evaluate my morning.
I thought the core of the storm might pass me by but later it started to rain softly and I thought it wiser to make my way back to my car. I chose what seemed to be a more straightforward route avoiding open areas and staying as close to the forest edge as possible. When the rain became a little more forceful I stood under the dense canopy of an old Sugar Maple reasoning that it might soon be over and, if any tree around was going to be struck by lightning, it wouldn’t be this old and not-very-tall maple.
From my sheltered but slightly damp spot I watched a pair of Eastern Kingbirds dancing around a tumbledown group of hawthorns and dogwoods. At one time the kingbirds and two bright yellow male American Goldfinches settled close enough together to make a wonderful picture should anyone with a camera have been close enough (which no-one was).
A quick movement not far in front of me turned out to be a Ruby–throated Hummingbird. As I watched, it visited several Red Columbine flowers, swinging from flower to flower in the light drifting rain. Bird of the Day for its atmospheric spontaneity and another nice picture, captured only in my memory.
To tie up what might otherwise be a loose end, it became apparent that the rain wasn’t likely to stop. I checked the weather map on my iPhone and saw, to the west of me, one of those malevolent green and orange clumps that mean heavy rain is on its way. I made my way back to my car definitely damp but not cold. An hour or so later the skies opened.