Howell Woodstock (18Apr2015)

Sherry, Mary and I took a very early morning excursion to Howell Woods today.  We pulled into the parking lot at first light and were dismayed to see a Road Closed sign blocking the road.  Well we were not about to turn around after a hour and a half drive and it looked quiet so we went around and parked in the normal lot.

The birds were singing like crazy all over the place and we had fun trying to identify by song.

Swainson's Warbler - very distinct song.  This bird was perched very close above our heads but the light was still very bad hence the bad photo.  However a Swainson's Warbler even in silhouette is easy to ID.  Note long bill, wide under tail coverts and short tail projection.

Prothonotary Warbler

Then on Plantation Rd we had the best bird of the day....

Kentucky Warbler

Unfortunately none of my photos today were half decent.  Poor light and lots of vegetation did not help.

Yellow-throated Vireo - he was very actively feeding on grubs and other tid bits and would not stay still.

Another Yellow-throated Vireo shot.  Surprisingly we had no Red-eyed or Blue-headed.

Palm Warbler

Breeding plumaged Yellow-rumped Warbler

Indigo Buntings were back in their usual spots.

When we got back to the parking lot shortly before noon, I was a little alarmed to see a festival literally forming around my parked truck.  now I could clearly see what the Road Closed sign was about.  It's a good thing they did not call the tow truck.  It turns out today was "Howell Woodstock".  We did not linger long because I thought it would be awkward if people started getting naked and dropping LSD although maybe it would have helped increase the bird count.

Back at the feeders I was hoping for at least one nuthatch but only this Brown-headed Cowbird was around.

All in all it was a good morning.  We had 11-12 species of warbler several "FOY" birds.

Good times.