With the onset of summer, bird sightings slow down

Spring migration is over. As the days of summer pile up, bird activity appears to slow down. Plenty of birds are still about, of course, but the variety isn’t quite as wide now that the migrants have flown north.

I’m still observing plenty of species on my outings, but it seems the photo opportunities are diminshed. I was able to catch the red-winged blackbird topping this post as he took off from high up a tree at the Pole Farm the other day.

I went down to Trenton marsh over the weekend and was descended upon by many, many bugs. I thought that surely a blue-gray gnatcatcher must be about, but I didn’t spot any and took photos of just one bird, a Northern flicker, before hustling back to my car.

At the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm yesterday, I briefly heard a blue grosbeak and thought I spotted it in the grasses off the trail. What I spotted instead was a juvenile American robin, speckled chest on full display.

Am I disappointed? A bit. But I do still hear plenty of birds singing in the woods: ovenbirds, red-eyed vireos, wood thrushes, warbling vireos, all of which I hear but rarely see.

Here’s a June 30 recording from the Pole Farm in which you can distinctly hear the “chip-chip-chip-chip” song of the ovenbird, with a bit of American robin and red-eyed vireo in the background.

Such song fills my heart, and I wish I could have captured for my readers the delightful “PEE-a-WEE” call of the Eastern wood-pewee. 🦅