Prairie Warbler Redux - Memorial Day weekend

Didn't do quite as much birding this holiday weekend as one might have expected of me, but I have a darn good reason. My sister's wedding was on Sunday afternoon, so we were involved with rehersals, ceremony and reception. Everything was beautiful and I wouldn't have traded a moment of it for any bird. Lisa looked beautiful, and Richard is a very welcome brother-in-law. I wish nothing less than the best for them both!


That's not to say we didn't get any birding in this weekend. I got out for about two hours on Sunday morning, and headed back to Horn Pond to see if I could try to get some better photos of the Prairie Warblers and Indigo Buntings that are so easy to see there. Still not entirely happy with the photos, but they are a bit of an improvement over the ones from earlier this week.

On Memorial Day, we had the day to ourselves - no work or other obligations, so Pamela and I headed to Plum Island. The Purple Martins have returned to the martin boxes that are put up every year just past the entrance gate. I have always had a problem photographing these guys - they have the beautiful glossy, purple/black sheen, but I never get any facial definition. This is the best one so far...

The most exciting bird on the island was a continuing Mourning Warbler that was found the day before, but it was only seen earlier in the morning and was not found again while we were there. The weather was nice, but windy, which really kept the bird song and activity to a minimum. I tried getting some more warbler photos while there, but it was difficult with the birds being few, and those seen were in denser brush.

We did make it down to the south end of the island later in the day after many of the beach-goers that fill the parking lots there had left and saw several Piping Plovers (including a pair that was engaging in 'plover-lovin') and a few Least Terns.