This week had a bit nicer weather and 8 new species for the week were recorded: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine Warbler, Red-tailed Hawk, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Sandhill Crane, and Tree Swallow. The night of April 5th there was a good push of birds and even though I did not pick up any new species on the 6th there was many more individual birds around with a dozen Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers seen and numerous Brown Creeper and Hermit Thrush. Most of the new species this week are arriving when expected although the Louisiana Waterthrush is a rare sighting at Kleinstuck with the bird usually hanging around for only a few hours before moving on to their preferred habitat of fast-moving streams like Trout Run Stream at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher that was found on the 10th is a little early, usually showing up closer the April 20th. So with all the warm weather coming for the rest of this week it will be interesting to see if any other species will be arriving a little early.
Photo: Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)