Today was rainy and windy with a temperature around 50 degrees and a windchill of 39.  Yes, it's May 31 and we are in north-central Pennsylvania.

We wrapped up our north woods outing in grasslands and emerging forests that once were coal strip mines near Knox, PA.  This Henslow's Sparrow, a resident of the grasslands, became lifer #559.

Finding warblers in this area is a matter of finding the right habitat.  Black-throated Green Warblers prefer stands of hemlock...

... as does the Magnolia Warbler.

Others, such as the Chestnut-sided Warbler prefer emerging forests where areas were logged within the past few years and saplings are now starting to grow.  

The same can be said for the Black-throated Blue Warbler.

The Yellow Warbler likes marshes and wetland fields.

Tomorrow, it's back to Key West to play with Henry and OG for a couple of days and get the bags re-packed for California where  we might just hit 500 species for the year.

It has been an excellent couple of days birding in Potter County, PA with Brother Doug.   The birds have generally been in a 'willing to pose' mood.  So, for the most part, I'm getting great looks if  just get my camera pointed in the right direction at the right time.

13 warblers have been among the 75 species we have observed so far, including a Yellow Warbler with a penchant for perching only on stems that are moving...

An Ovenbird that finally left the tree tops to take a stroll on the ground a few feet in front me...

An obliging Mourning Warbler that happily posed on some sticks I put in place as a perch...

This curious Magnolia Warbler...

a shy Hooded Warbler...

and, this Blackburnian Warbler checking out cobwebs for a delicious bug or two...

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have been everywhere.

This tiny Winter Wren was the star of the show yesterday as it gave us a tour of its hemlock forest home.

The wren was #461 for the year and I have since added a rare American Goshawk and lifer #558... a Black-billed Cuckoo to raise the YTD total to 463.

More pics to come from this whirlwind tour of northern Pennsyltucky.

I'm headed for Potter County, PA tomorrow to attend the Northern Potter High School commencement ceremonies with my brother where our late mother will be inducted into the NoPo High School Teachers Hall of Fame.  Mom taught business classes there for 35 years.

Of course, I will use the trip as an opportunity to seek out a couple of north woods birds that are still missing from the 2025 list.  Frankly, I'm just hoping it doesn't snow.

The Michigan/Ohio swing ended with 24 new species for the year and 4 new life birds.  The numbers weren't big like our swings through Arizona and Texas but, we weren't going to see most of those 24 species anywhere else this year.  For the trip, we saw about 110 total species.

Here are a few final looks including this happy-to-pose-all-day-for-photos Bay-breasted Warbler.

A Baltimore Oriole eyes the next orange it is about to devour.

  This Blackburnian Warbler offered better looks than what we saw the previous day...

And, we encountered what seems to be a hybrid between a Golden-winged Warbler and a Blue-winged Warbler.  Merlin insisted it was a Golden-winged Warbler based on its call. However, it clearly looks like a Blue-winged Warbler.  So, after 4 years of seeing people identify hybrid birds, I think we finally found one.  This is a big bummer because a true Golden-winged Warbler would have been a life bird.

We also got okay looks at the endangered Kirtland's Warbler.  Getting good looks at this bird in its very limited breeding grounds in Michigan and Wisconsin is not easy but, seeing this species anywhere else in the US is 'iffy' at best; perhaps South Florida during spring migration.

The other option is to see it during the winter months in the Bahamas.  Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

This Nashville Warbler was belting out its tune as if it thought it was Louis Armstrong.

The YTD 2025 count is now 460, just 40 away from the goal of 500.  After the quick trip to Pennsyltucky this week, we head for the "land of fruits and nuts."  Yes, I'm talking about California.  I can't wait for the $4-5 per gallon gas.

Cloudy. Windy. Rainy. High of 50.  Wind chill in the 40's.  Yep, we're still in Michigan this Memorial Day weekend.

We have logged 21 warbler species on this trip although photos have been hard to come by given the poor weather conditions and the relative uncooperativeness of the warblers which are busy feasting on worms and bugs to refuel for their remaining journeys northward.

Baltimore Orioles have been abundant.

Not new for the year... but I did manage to spot this Common Nighthawk snoozing about 50 feet up in a tree at Magee Marsh.  I simply noticed a 'bump on a log' that didn't seem right.

This group of Whimbrels was passing by Michigan's Sturgeon Point Lighthouse on Lake Huron.  The lighthouse was completed in 1870.

And, after much searching, we finally found a Scarlet Tanager to add to the 2025 list that now stands at 459.

We could not resist a quick stop and photo at the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox roadside attraction from the 1940s.  Paul stands a bit over 13 feet.  It's rumored that when Paul was three weeks old, he rolled around so much in his sleep that he destroyed four square miles of standing timber.  These old attractions are true blue Americana.

Tomorrow, we wrap up our Ohio/Michigan swing, heading back to Key West on Monday where 88 degrees with 90% humidity should help us thaw out.

The warblers were on parade today in Barry County, Michigan and at Magee Marsh in Ohio as we added 16 total species to the 2025 count to bring the YTD total to 452.

Today's warbler species included Canada Warbler...

... Magnolia Warbler...

... Chestnut-sided Warbler...

... Prothonotary Warbler...

... Yellow Warbler...

... Blackburnian Warbler...

... and the Bay-breasted Warbler which became Lifer #555 today.

We also observed Blue-winged, Hooded and Cerulean Warblers but they weren't interested in posing for pictures on a cool, windy, cloud-covered day.  

Meanwhile, on the water, these Trumpeter Swans were busy taking care of seven little additions to their family.

We're back in Key West for a few days to play with Henry and OG and re-pack suit cases for a trip to Ohio and Michigan this week. Our focus there will be on migrating warblers, vireos and thrushes.

Here are some final looks at our trip to Arizona.  

First, this is not what I like to see on the trail ahead of me.  After seeing a 4 foot garter snake slither off the trail, I was watching intently for snakes, especially after another birder had come bushwhacking through the forest saying a rattlesnake was on the trail.  I'm not sure crashing through rocks and fallen trees is a healthier remedy for avoiding rattlesnakes.  But, to each his own.

This snake was doing its best Gandalf imitation... "You shall not pass!"  It turned out to be a harmless Sonoran Desert Gopher Snake but, with the snake about 20 yards away and not being sure at the time, a few well-cast rocks encouraged it off the trail so we could pass.

While we never did see a Roadrunner on the trip, we did find plenty of other species including the colorful Red-faced Warbler...

... Grace's Warbler...

... the very colorful Western Tanager... 

... Cactus Wrens aplenty...

... And many, many hummingbirds including Berylline hummers and Blue-throated Mountain Gems.  This Mountain Gem refused to sit anywhere but on the feeder.

One afternoon, we were mobbed by Acorn Woodpeckers and Mexican Jays while eating our lunch.

A pair of black-crowned night herons were hanging out in a Tucson city park.  Very unusual in my mind because they are largely nocturnal.  So, seeing them out and about in the afternoon in the desert seems very out-of-place to me.  Again, to each his own.

We are back in Phoenix and headed for Key West tomorrow.   One of the highlights of the trip was getting point-blank views of the very rare Five-striped Sparrow.  Seeing this bird generally requires driving into one of the canyons of the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson.  After missing the bird on our first attempt in Montosa Canyon, we made a second attempt at Box Canyon.

After covering a few miles of washboard dirt road, we started the ascent up the narrow, rocky road as it hugged the canyon walls.  As the edge of the road became 20 feet, 100 feet, 300 feet above the canyon floor, Crystal, who is afraid of heights, suggested it was time to turn the car around.  Having been up this canyon before, and with the prospect of seeing the sparrow as well as a Thick-billed Kingbird in front of us, my answer was plain and simple... "We aren't turning around."

I parked the car in a 'wide' spot in the road and started walking toward where the sparrow was supposed to be.  Another birder was kind enough to post the GPS coordinates of the most recent sighting.  As we approached a bend in the road below a 100 foot cliff, Crystal was clearly not impressed with the situation.  To her chagrin, I advised the sparrow spot was just around the corner.

As we rounded the corner, there was a group of birders parked at the sparrow spot.   I said, "See, I told you this is the place."   There was a large van and two other cars parked along the road.

When we approached the birders, I recognized one individual as the birding tour guide I had met last year while roaming around Southeast Arizona.  He recognized me as well.  It seemed wherever I showed up, he was there with his group.  Or, where he showed up, I was already there.  So, history was repeating itself.

Quickly, the guide heard, then spotted the Five-striped Sparrow making its way along a bench above the road.  It worked above and below the road and ended up too close for me to take pictures.  This very rare bird was within 6 feet of me.

The photo above shows how this bird got its name based on the five white stripes on its head.

Further up the canyon, we found the  Thick-billed Kingbird  to make the trip up Box Canyon a success.  While not as rare as the Five-striped, this kingbird isn't a species you expect to see with any sort of regularity.

Two nights later, we ran into the guide and his group 90 miles away in Sierra Vista looking for Elf Owls.  If I had to place a bet, I'd say we'll run into him again next year if we don't book a tour with him first.

Speaking of rare bird sightings, another species we observed during our hike into the Chiricahua Mountains was the highly sought-after Elegant Trogon.  The trail to the trogons crosses near "the bathtub," a small pool nestled among boulders.  

And then, we found the trogon.  Less than 10% of this bird's range is in the U.S.  Mostly, it is found in Mexico and Central America.

Birding has been tough over the past couple of days because of high winds that have been constant at 20-30 MPH.  The weather forced us to cancel our search for the Flame-colored Tanager this morning.  Instead, we got one last bird for the trip, a MacGillivray's Warbler near Patagonia, AZ on our way back to Phoenix.  This nudged the YTD total up one to 436.