Birds of Wingfield Pines

Redwing blackbird. There are tons of them at Wingfield Pines.

I went back to Wingfield Pines on Tuesday 4/14 just to see the birds, and to see if I could take some better pictures of them. I am not so great at bird photography. Gotta practice! So these are not terrific pictures but I'm making progress. No better time to look for birds than the spring, when the often colorful males are doing their best to draw attention to themselves with song.

Wingfield Pines is an acid mine drainage mitigation site. That means it has a series of ponds that were made in order to slow the flow of water so that iron oxide particles settle to the bottom and don't flow into the creek. Like most wetlands, it's a magnet for insect eating birds, and spring migration is a great time to see them. 

I haven't had any issues with social distancing during this pandemic at Wingfield Pines. There is plenty of room to space out. But there are still plenty of people ignoring the signs that dogs are not allowed anymore, and some are off-leashing. 

I am so not a birder. I wish I was, because birds are interesting all year long, even in the middle of winter. And there is sooo much to know about birds that it's hard to imagine getting bored with them. I am trying to learn. 

I attended a class on mushroom foraging years ago, and the instructor said that there's no need to be intimidated by the enormous task of trying to learn all the mushrooms. He advised us to just learn a couple new edible mushrooms each season, along with all their identifying characteristics and what sets them apart from their lookalikes. That keeps the task manageable. I've been trying to apply that  strategy to birds. And since I don't need to worry about eating them and finding that some are deadly poisonous, there's less fear in making mistakes! 

In the fall I used the ubiquitous "Birds of Pennsylvania" by Stan Tekiela to choose a selection of birds that overwinter in  our area, and this spring chose a selection of birds that spend their summers here. I researched the birds to learn something interesting about each bird. I used xeno-canto.org to listen to the calls and songs of each bird, and find a clear, typical song to download. Then I made virtual flashcards with Anki to learn their songs, their names and what they look like. 

It takes a lot of trial and error to learn to "bird by ear", even though humans are pretty good at pattern recognition. They have tried to make a Shazam style app for birds with little success, because there is a great deal of variation in bird songs, and it turns out to be very hard to teach to artificial intelligence.  I have been trying to record bird songs I hear with my phone sometimes, so that I can find a match at home. It's not easy!

I was therefore pretty thrilled when I heard a call and was very sure I was hearing a northern flicker. I know they prefer to spend their time on the ground, foraging there for insects, but this one sounded like it was a bit higher up. So I looked for a dead tree, and found it! If I hadn't known what kind of bird it was, I wouldn't have known where to look. 

Common grackle.

Japanese crab apple? Wingfield pines has lots of flowering trees, most of which are invasive. 

More Japanese crab apple.

American tree sparrow.

American tree sparrow.

The redbud tree's gorgeous blooms are opening, and its leaves are unfurling too.

I think this is a blue-gray gnatcatcher, in a sycamore tree. I found it with the Merlin Bird ID app.

Blue gray gnatcatcher.

Blue gray gnatcatcher.

Black-capped chickadee.

Cardinal.

Female red winged blackbird. With so many males around, there have to be plenty of females. But they are deliberately inconspicuous.

Northern flicker.

Northern flicker.

Northern flicker. I love the yellow on the underside of its tail.

Red winged blackbird.

Red winged blackbird.

Northern rough winged swallow.

Barn swallow.

Northern rough winged swallow.

Northern rough winged swallow.

Barn swallow.

Barn swallow.

Northern rough winged swallow.

Barn swallow.

Barn swallow.

Red winged blackbird.

Crab apple. 

Mourning dove.

Mourning dove.

Cardinal.

I think this is a red-tailed hawk but maybe a juvenile, not yet having a red tail.

Red-tailed hawk. It was being harassed by a single crow.

Crab apple.