May 2, 2010. 7 am - 8 am. overcast. Swan Point Cemetery 60'

Today was not as successful as May 1 but we did come up with some very fine birds most of which came from the warbler family. As usual Robins were everywhere as we walked into the gate (it should be Robin Point instead of Swan Point). Their beaks were stuffed with tiny light green caterpillars which the Robins were flying back to their nestlings.

There were large numbers of the common birds made up the body of the bird list for the day they included: a Blue Jay, 10 Mourning Doves, a flock of Common Grackles, 3 Downy Woodpeckers, 3 American Crows, 1 Northern Cardinal, 6 White-Throated Sparrows, 2 Northern Flickers, 5 Baltimore Orioles, 5 Chipping Sparrows, 2 European Starlings, a Black-Capped Chickadee, an American Goldfinch, a Grey Catbird, 2 House Finches and a pair of Canada Geese.

And now for the warblers, the small brightly collard birds with thin, insect eating bills and the bad habit of staying at the tops of tall trees which can infuriate the most patient of birders. There were not many warblers today but we were lucky to find some of the most brightly colored birds in the family. Exploring the woods in search of warblers didn't come with much in fact most of cemetery we explored did not have anything except an American Redstart. We were lucky enough to come across the hotspot for the day which was the small ornamental pond. The pond was positioned in the center of the cemetery and was one of the few sources of fresh water on the property. As we hopped out of the car we almost instantly spotted 3 Northern Parulas hanging around the bushes which surrounded the pond. There were many other warblers relaxing in the bushes after a hard and long night of migrating including: 3 Palm, 2 Yellow-Rumped, 2 Black and Whites and a Black-Throated Blue Warbler.

Maybe the reason we had fewer warblers than the day before was due to the lack of the sunshine. They were most active in the sunny areas and we couldn't locate a single sunny area on this cloudy grey day.