Saturday May 17, 2014 and it was raining off and on. After eating a bowl of Robert’s very nice asparagus soup for lunch, we decided to go for a drive. We went to the Wolf River Greenland area in east Memphis and walked down the paved path into the woods next to the Wolf River.
We heard many birds singing in the dense woods. Robert spotted a Summer Tanager (Piranga Rubra) high in the canopy of a hardwood tree. The Summer Tanager is a medium sized songbird in the Cardinal family. They eat bees and wasps. Adult males are red. Females are orangish on the underparts and olive on top, with olive-brown wings and tail.
As we continued to walk down the path, while we were looking out at the Wolf River, we heard a song we don’t usually hear. Spotting this bird was a challenge, but Robert finally found the Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis Swainsonii) perching on a branch. Swainson's Warblers are a small bird with olive brown above and white below. It has a brown crown. We had never seen this bird before. This was a life bird for us.
While we were still zooming on the idea of having seen the Swainson’s Warbler, we bumped into the Prothonatory Warbler (Protonotaria Citrea) on a limb high in a tree next to the Wolf River.
The Prothonotary Warbler has an olive back with blue-grey wings and tail with yellow underparts. It is the only warbler in the eastern United States that nests in natural cavities in trees, sometimes using holes made by the Downy Woodpecker (Picoides Pubescens).
Further down the same path, we started hearing the familiar zipper like song of the Northern Parula (Setophaga Americana).
As we were heading back to the car, we heard the liquid whistle of the Indigo Bunting (Passerina Cyanea). It was sitting out in the open on a branch without any leaves, making him very easy to spot and identify. The Indigo Bunting is a small bird. The male is a vibrant blue and the female is brown. The diet of the Indigo Bunting consists primarily of insects during the summer months and seeds during the winter months.
Of course, the "Bird of the Day" is the Swainson’s Warbler because it was a "Life Bird" for us.
Robert and Berry
photos courtesy of wikipedia, audubon.com
sounds like a nice day!
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