Birding Notes

In a large lantana bush this morning a delicate blue-gray dragonfly rested among the orange blossoms and green leaves, as Tiger Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail butterflies fluttered gently near it, visiting the blooms. Two Buckeye butterflies, four Silver-spotted Skippers, and a few small Fiery Skippers were visiting the flowers too, on an already hot, humid day. Huge white clouds with dark gray bottoms billowed and drifted in a sky that somehow still was mostly blue and sunny.

The dragonfly’s slender, graceful shape, and cool, powdery, blue-gray color might have escaped attention, but its wings whirred in a fairy-like way when it moved even slightly. When sitting still, it held its four transparent wings out straight to the sides. The wings were intricately veined, with the front edges trimmed in fine, distinctive black markings. 

I’m pretty sure it was a Bar-winged Skimmer, Libellula axilena. I looked it up after I got back home, and learned that this dragonfly is found throughout Georgia and much of the Southeast, but is considered uncommon, not often seen. It prefers forested areas with ponds or other still, shallow water, or slow-moving wooded streams. Although this location was in a suburban neighborhood, there are woods and creeks and a pond, surrounding us and not far away.

The morning also held two especially nice, surprising birds. A Red-eyed Vireo sang somewhere in the treetops behind a neighbor’s house, too far from the road to see. And a Northern Flicker announced its presence with several good, loud calls of kleer! This is the first time I’ve found a Flicker here since sometime last spring. Although they do sometimes spend the summer in this part of Georgia, they usually spend only the fall and winter months here in our neighborhood, and this is a little earlier than usual to find one. It may be just passing through or visiting. And it may be another sign of increasing bird activity and movement as the fall season comes closer. 

Early this morning I stepped out into a steamy, wet, very warm day. Our summer heat has returned. Low filmy clouds still hung over the dripping trees and kept the light gray. But the sharp, clear chik-brrr calls of a Scarlet Tanager immediately brightened the day, the first time I’ve heard a Scarlet Tanager in a few weeks. Its calls were very clear and close, but it stayed deeply hidden in the foliage, somewhere in trees on the edge of the yard, so I was never able to catch sight of it. Still – just nice to know it’s here and to listen as it moved through the trees.  

Several other birds were much more active this morning than they’ve recently been. Two Great Crested Flycatchers called whreeps back and forth. An Acadian Flycatcher sang its crisp tee-chip from not far away in the woods. Carolina Wrens trilled and burbled and fussed. A White-breasted Nuthatch called. Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice kept up a running comment in low,

brief, chipping notes, kind of a background sound. Northern Cardinals peeped. Crickets chirped. Brown-headed Nuthatches chattered their squeaky-dees in the pines. An American Crow stopped by for a few minutes, cawing very loudly right overhead, but then flew away.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds came frequently to the feeder, twittering fiercely when they encountered each other, which was often. Once I saw three in the air together, intersecting, then zipping off in different directions. 

Then a Red-eyed Vireo began to sing. It wasn’t especially close, maybe somewhere around a neighbor’s yard, and it sounded a little muffled in the foggy distance – but it sang its repeated refrain over and over again for several minutes and was very nice to hear! Like the Scarlet Tanager, I have not heard or seen a Red-eyed Vireo in several weeks. So maybe the predominant quiet of summer is beginning to come to an end, as birds begin to disperse and prepare for fall migration.

After a while, many of the birds fell quiet or drifted further away, leaving a soft, wet morning, still punctuated now and then by the Acadian Flycatcher’s tee-chip, and the twitter of hummingbirds. 

The gentle, blurry coos of a Mourning Dove emerged from the clouds and the fog. 

What a gentle, lovely, surprising morning! Amazingly cool for early August, and the back yard trees were full of bird calls and songs, seeming more active than usual recently. A Great Crested Flycatcher called whreep and stayed around for several minutes. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo gave several hollow, knocking ka-ka-ka calls. Tufted Titmice and Carolina Wrens and Carolina Chickadees sang, and Northern Cardinals peeped. An American Goldfinch scattered its flyover notes. Crickets and other insects chirped. And the pik-a-tuk calls of a Summer Tanager laced through the trees. The nasal onk-onk-onk-onk of a White-breasted Nuthatch tracked its progress through the woods as it came closer and closer. A Downy Woodpecker whinnied. A Red-bellied Woodpecker rattled. 

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds came frequently to the feeder, often dueling and chasing. I watched one visiting the red blossoms on a hanging geranium plant. I don’t think it found much nectar there, but it was pretty to watch.

Then I was very happy to hear the sharp little check-mark call of an Acadian Flycatcher, which I’ve not heard for a few days – maybe because of very heavy rain for much of that time. 

After a long stretch of extreme heat in July, early August brought us several days of rain and cloudy days and much cooler temperatures. The rain was welcome – but at times torrential, falling steadily and heavy for hours. Now this morning, the temperature is only 69 degrees. There are still a lot of clouds, but soft sunlight is beginning to break through. Carolina Wrens burble and trill and sing. 

And then – maybe happiest of all – a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher called its wispy spee-spee! And another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher responded with its own spee calls, the first time I’ve heard them in trees around our yard in quite a while.