[wisb] Hooded Warbler, Red-wing vs. Cranes - Madison

From: Max Witynski <birdmax922@xxxxxxxxx>
To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:42:48 -0500
I spent some time in the Arboretum this morning birding Curtis
Prairie, the Lost City Forest, and Longnecker Gardens for my BIGBY
list.  By the time I arrived at 12:30 the temperature had already
climbed four degrees above the predicted high for the day (65 vs. 61)
and Curtis Prairie was alive with bird song.  Here I found numerous
Common Yellowthroats, Song Sparrows, and Red-winged Blackbirds.  Also
a WILLOW FLYCATCHER and an EASTERN TOWHEE.  The target bird, the Sedge
Wren, could not be located.

As I was rounding the corner of the prairie on my way to the Lost
City, I encountered a pair of beautiful SANDHILL CRANES on the trail.
I approached them as if ignoring them, hoping they wouldn't fly away,
and they continued down the trail ahead of me.  About half-way to the
Teal Pond trail, the cranes were viciously attacked by a male
Red-winged Blackbird.  He dove at them repeatedly and pulled up only a
few inches from their heads, making an angry wheezing noise.  The
cranes tolerated him for a little while, and then suddenly turned off
the trail into the prairie, inciting the blackbird even more.

At first I thought the cranes were trying to avoid the blackbird (and
me); but why were they lowering their heads, tilting them to the
sides, and sweeping their bills back and forth just above the grass?
I soon realized that the cranes were TRYING to anger the blackbird,
because they were looking for his nest!  I watched for five minutes or
so, and once one of the cranes darted its head down suddenly, but came
up empty.  It looked like they were giving up the search as I left,
but I certainly got a glimpse of a different side of crane behavior!
The beaks look a little more dangerous than elegant now!

Later, in the Lost City forest, I was being eaten by mosquitos and had
just turned around to leave the survey marker when the HOODED WARBLER
sang in the distance!  It followed with three more songs, the last one
considerably closer, before it quit singing.  BIGBY #130, Dane County
#214!  (This was my FIFTH try for the Hooded Warbler!  Thanks to Aaron
Stutz for the directions!)

Max Witynski,
Madison, Dane

Location:     UW-Madison Arboretum
Observation date:     6/10/11
Number of species:     40

Wild Turkey     5
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Sandhill Crane     2
Mourning Dove     1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird     3
Hairy Woodpecker     1
Eastern Wood-Pewee     5
Willow Flycatcher     1
Eastern Phoebe     1
Great Crested Flycatcher     2
Red-eyed Vireo     3
Blue Jay     3
American Crow     2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow     2
Tree Swallow     8
Barn Swallow     10
Black-capped Chickadee     2
White-breasted Nuthatch     2
House Wren     5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
Eastern Bluebird     2
Wood Thrush     1 - Another new BIGBY species
American Robin     5
Gray Catbird     3
Cedar Waxwing     2
Yellow Warbler     2
Ovenbird     1 - One sang three times in the Lost City.  I wonder if
they might breed there.
Common Yellowthroat     10
Hooded Warbler     1
Eastern Towhee     1
Chipping Sparrow     5
Field Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     10
Northern Cardinal     10
Indigo Bunting     3
Red-winged Blackbird     15
Common Grackle     1
Brown-headed Cowbird     2
House Finch     10
American Goldfinch     17
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[wisb] Hooded Warbler, Red-wing vs. Cranes - Madison

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