Crosswinds Marsh - 09 Jun 2013

Robin and I took a ride out to Crosswinds Marsh in Wayne Co. this morning to look for a pair of Yellow-breasted Chats that were reported yesterday by Daryl Asperry.  They had been seen regularly from the horse trail that runs parallel to Haggerty Rd.

Though I would dip on seeing or hearing the chats, I had a pretty good morning.  The mosquitos weren't too bad, and I managed to get some digiscoping in for the first time in weeks.  House Wrens were abundant, nesting in many of the bluebird houses that lined the horse trail.

Song Sparrows were also around, and providing some nice images.  I desaturated all color channels except the red channel, as I wanted to highlight the rust-colored fence that matched the bird's feathers almost exactly!

An Eastern Kingbird provided a challenging view against the dark clouds and the peaking sun.

Tree Swallows were in most of the other bluebird boxes, as well.  This female was waiting for me to leave so that she could resume feeding/nesting.

I hiked along the power lines to get some pics of a male Eastern Bluebird that was using one of the nest boxes.

I heard the 'zeeb-zeeb' of a Clay-colored Sparrow coming from the trees lining the power line trail.  I'm guessing that the bird is attracted by the buzzing of the power lines that sound amazingly like a Clay-colored Sparrow.  A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was also calling from the trees next to the road, but I was unable to find it.

Marsh Wrens were calling from various locations in the marsh, but I was unable to put the scope on any.  Swamp Sparrows were also calling, and just as hard to find. I would have to settle for a couple portrait shots of a Red-winged Blackbird.

The House Wrens were much more cooperative.  A pair of birds were using one box as a possible nesting site, but spent a lot of time either on the fence or on top of the post.  I was able to get lovely photos from about 20' away!

I'm also happy to report that I got my first Ticks of the year!  Two of them were crawling on my neck when I got home. Yuck...  I'm also sporting my first mosquito bites and a couple of purple-looking bumps on my neck that I hope aren't tick bites.