My Big Month - Day 18

On a tip from a friend and fellow birder I decided to visit Brookdale Park today which is just north of Palmer Lake Park. In fact they are connected by the trail system and pretty much the same habitat. But what my friend told me is that yesterday other birder friends of ours had spotted 12 Scarlet Tanagers –8 males and 4 females all in one group here! So after the rain quit I set out and just happened to run into the same group of birder friends who saw the Tanagers yesterday. Now with three additional really good pair of eyes, our odds of spotting birds vastly increased. In fact because of this, I was able to break my previous record for number of Warblers spotted in one day! For me personally, with the group I saw 10 Warblers and then added number 11 on my way out with a Northern Waterthrush. In addition, having such experienced birders by my side I was able to correct or confirm identification on two other species that are completely new to me – the Swainson's Thrush and Red-eyed Vireo! Then near the very end of my visit, we spotted just one lone female Scarlet Tanager. At about this point I had to leave so I don't know if the rest of the group ever located the male or not.

Despite all these fantastic birds, the best quality photo I took came much earlier, before I even left my vehicle! While on a phone call before setting out, I spotted what looked like an immature Baltimore Oriole landing repeated right outside my car window. He would land on a thick dried up weed from last year and proceed to pick at it until he found a loose end. Then he'd pull on it as far as it would go, making his own long strip of nesting material. It was fun to watch him do this over and over from such close proximity.

Total species seen today: (These first 11 in blue are all Warblers) Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Blackpoll Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Swainson's Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, American Goldfinch, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Mallard, Wood Duck, Least Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, Barn Swallow, Song Sparrow, Wild Turkey, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Crow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canada Goose and Scarlet Tanager.