All of the photos in this post were taken in Etna over the last two weeks. They are from five sites: the Mill Pond Forest up on Moose Mountain; the King Bird Sanctuary in the Hayes Farm Park behind the Hanover Town Library, a.k.a. the Etna Library; along Old Dana Road near the Dana Nature Preserve; along Gates Road; and our yard.
When I was close to finishing assembling this post today, I took a break to walk with Jann along Etna Highlands and Gates Roads. I certainly was not carrying a long lens because we rarely see any birds along this route. But near the end of Gates Road there were some birds and they acted like warblers. A quick short with a shot lens confirmed at least one Black-throated Green was among them. After our walk we went back, and I spent a furious 18 minutes photographing anything that moved — four warbler species and a peewee. Then they were gone. So the post got delayed so I could add this 5th site.
Migrating warblers were a pleasant surprise in all five spots. And I had one new yard bird – the one shown in the photo above. What is it? The answer is in the section on warblers.
Warblers
Black-and-white Warbler
Seen in a single tree in a small mixed flock in the King Bird Sanctuary, and then she was gone.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Amazingly, I saw a Black-throated Blue Warbler in our yard when not even looking for birds. But I saw movement and he was in the open. Fortunately my camera was nearby.
And then an hour later the same bird or another landed on our table on our back deck.
A female Black-throated Blue Warbler was in the Mill Pond Forest.
I watched her catching and consuming a caterpillar high up in a tree above the entrance path.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Mill Pond Forest also had some Black-throated Green Warblers.
This one seemed to be waving to me.
Several were very successful grabbing caterpillars.
I also found some in the King Bird Sanctuary during a short burst of feeding warblers before they all disappeared.
And it was a Black-throated Green along Gates that convinced me the flock working the trees was worth photographing.
Bay-breasted Warbler
Now we reveal the identify of the new yard bird shown at the beginning of this post and repeated below so you don’t have to scroll. It was a female Bay-breasted Warbler that looks nothing like the male with its rufous flanks.
Cape-May Warbler
One in the mixed flock in the King Bird Sanctuary.
But the real Cape May bonanza was along Gates Road today.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warblers were seen in the Mill Pond Forest …
… the King Bird Sanctuary …
… and along Gates Road.
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroats were everywhere and plentiful, even in our yard. Except for one male at Mill Pond, seen below, all were females.
These were found at the King Bird Sanctuary.
These were in the Mill Pond Forest.
I very rarely have seen any in our yard, but one was present for a short time.
The two photos below were taken along Old Dana Road.
Magnolia Warbler
Our Etna yard is certainly not a hot spot for Magnolia Warblers. But they paid us a visit on September 3rd along with five other warbler species. A bonanza rarely seen in our yard.
I also photographed one near Mill Pond.
Northern Parula
Joining a warbler extraganza in our yard was a Northern Parula.
And I also found at least one on the perennial sunflowers along Old Dana Road.
Pine Warbler
Part of the September 3rd mixed flock in our yard was a Pine Warbler.
Tennessee Warbler
I heard, but rarely saw, many Tennessee Warblers this season. I did find one in the mixed flock at King Bird Sanctuary.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
I found Yellow-rumped Warblers at three sites:
One photo from our Etna yard.
With the mixed warbler flock along Gates.
And a number near the Mill Pond.
Standing with my back to Mill Pond, it was challenging to find the Yellow-rumped Warbler in this tangle of dead branches.
Here is a cropped version so you can better spot it.
Three more from the branch jungle.
Other Species
Amazingly there were some non-warbler species in Etna.
American Goldfinch
While walking Old Dana Road, Jann and I saw a beautiful patch of perennial sunflowers. I took a few photos and didn’t think much more about them. Then on a later walk we noticed some American Goldfinch feeding on the sunflower seeds. So it seemed worthwhile to spend some time there. The setup was great. The sunflowers were right by the side of the road and I could use my car as a blind.
Here is a first batch.
These two had a disagreement over something, perhaps a special seed head.
Two days ago I was back for some more photos enroute to and from Mill Pond.
Black-capped Chickadee
No collection of bird photos should go without one Black-capped Chickadee. This one is from our yard.
Blue-headed Vireo
From the Mill Pond Forest a very brief look as it grabbed an insect.
Blue Jay
From the Mill Pond Forest.
Broad-winged Hawk
Spotted while we were driving to walk along Old Dana Road with Jann.
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwings were working the berries on the trees near the sunflowers on Old Dana. So it was almost mandatory that I took some photos of them. But I spent most of my time there with the goldfinch.
Chipping Sparrow
There were some along Gates, but this one was from our yard.
Dark-eyed Junco
This bird from our yard is likely a Dark-eyed Junco. If it isn’t, I can’t figure out what it could be. I uploaded it to iNaturalist but so far no one has confirmed my ID.
Eastern Phoebe
These first two are from Old Dana Road. Note the sunflower seeds in the first photo.
One photo each from our yard and Mill Pond.
Eastern Wood-peewee
Mixed in with the warblers along Gates was at least one Eastern Wood-peewee.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
I got a very brief look at a Golden-crowned Kinglet in the Mill Pond Forest.
Gray Catbird
Two each from Old Dana and King Bird.
Hairy Woodpecker
Near the Old Dana sunflowers.
Hooded Merganser
On a small pond along Old Dana Road, backlit in morning reflections.
Least Flycatcher
From the Mill Pond Forest.
Merlin
We have only ever seen two Merlin in our yard — both this year. This one was in a tall oak.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Up high in a dead tree at the Mill Pond Forest.
Red-eyed Vireo
A quick look at the King Bird Sanctuary, but unfortunately the vireo would not look my way.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
I posted quite a few photos of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in my Mid-summer blog. Here are three recent photos from our yard.
While photographing the goldfinch along Old Dana Road, I was surprised to see a hummingbird apparently interested in the sunflowers.
Song Sparrow
One from each of Old Dana and Mill Pond.
Turkey
A flock of Turkey grazed in a field just north of the sunflowers along Old Dana.
White-throated Sparrow
I photographed this White-throated Sparrow in the King Bird Sanctuary two days ago.
If you missed my Mid-summer blog filled mostly with birds, you can see it if you CLICK HERE.