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This afternoon I visited the Arboretum to see if there were any new migrants there. I took a leisurely walk through the Azalea Garden trails. Like yesterday at Rock Creek, there were many Swainson's thrushes on the ground, including a few that were singing. On the south slope, I found a gray-cheeked thrush. All corners of the hill were well-stocked with yellow-billed cuckoos. The south side had a nice mix of warblers, including several black-throated blue warblers, redstarts, and northern parulas. One Canada warbler was singing from low in the underbrush. The same trail had a trio of grungy-looking white-throated sparrows. They must have missed their flight north.
The highlight of my walk was an olive-sided flycatcher. It was perched at the top of the tall snag at the parking lot across from the columns.
The meadow around the columns has been left unmowed this spring. Last year several mown trails crossed through the middle of the field, but this year the only trails are around the edges. So far the longer grass has been attractive enough to keep a bobolink singing there for several weeks.
SPECIES SEEN: 46
Ring-billed Gull
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Tufted Titmouse
Blue Jay
American Crow
European Starling
House Sparrow
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
American Goldfinch
Northern Parula
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Canada Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
