Spring really is here - migrant birds are showing up every day

  • By Bruce Glick
  • April 16, 2014
  • 367
                        
Spring really is here - migrant birds are showing up every day Columnist Bruce Glick summarizes happenings in the local birding world. This week Bruce writes about April birding. Read more about it in the "Gone Birding" column. I sometimes think of April as the lull between the waterfowl push of March and the songbird bonanza of May. However, there are a lot of fun birding options in April. For those of us who enjoy searching for migrating raptors, April is great, especially the second half of the month. But there is a lot more going on in April, as you know if you have been checking any of the on-line birding sites, or if you are calling the local rare bird alert (330-763-5119). So far April has been fairly normal as far as the weather goes, cooler than normal at times, followed by warmer days, then some snow and 25 degree nights, with a string of 60 degree days following. The wind comes from the north one day and from the south the next day. As I write on the 16th, the wind is south but very cold, with the thermometer here in Goshen barely reaching 40 degrees. A week ago I started to survey the birds in our neighborhood almost every day. There are a number of different habitats, including the lake (called a pond here), two woodlots, one of which is an upland area while the other is tucked in between the Elkhart River and the Race (a canal, actually). Usually I ride my bike through the streets and walk the woodlots. So far it has been a lot of fun, and has given me a much better feel of what birds are coming through the area. As the waterfowl numbers diminished, the April land-birds began to show up. For the last three days there have been at least three or four Hermit Thrushes, plus similar numbers of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Lots of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been coming through, while numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers jumped from 5 to 15 to 35 in three days. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are back, and several Winter Wrens added to the fun. A Brown Thrasher and an early House Wren sang from our neighbor's backyard on April 13. There have also been a lot of Bonaparte's Gulls coming through this week. Today there were 75 at Fidler Pond, a new Goshen City Park that features a former gravel operation which is now a lovely lake. A lone Common Loon was making its way around the lake, staying quite close to shore and giving people great looks. Shorebird migration is also underway. For the next few weeks, birders will be searching mudflats and flooded fields to find a wide variety of migrant shorebirds. I found a group of 40+ Pectoral Sandpipers and one Lesser Yellowlegs in a flooded field that was also hosting Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks, Wilson's Snipe and a few Bonaparte's Gulls. By the time you read this, it probably will be about the peak for raptor migration. Warm days with a south wind and no rain will make it very hard for hawk-watchers not to take a vacation day, or at least hope the best day comes on a Saturday. I'm hoping to catch a good flight of Broad-winged Hawks before the month is over, and then it will be warbler season. Good birding! Bruce Glick birderbruce@yahoo.com 330-317-7798


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