Scott, Ethan, Ian, and I fished out of the Goodfield Creek launch near Cotton Port today. We started by going into the back of the creek fishing a variety of baits, wanting to see if the bass had moved far back into the backs of creeks yet. We didn't catch any bass, but we saw several beautiful Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) and another bird that at first I thought was some type of warbler, but after more investigation I think was a 1st year male Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). It was sitting high up on a lone branch just blasting out it's call. It did not hop around a bunch like a warbler, it was predominantly yellow with two distinct wing bars, a black face, a very pointed beak, and I thought it was a little larger than the Prothonotaries we just saw. When I got home I consulted my Sibley's field guide to look at an Orchard Oriole (because we saw several mature males throughout the day), and I looked for a warbler with a black face and the 1st spring male Orchard Oriole really looks like it matches what we saw. I had no idea the 1st year male Orchard Oriole was yellow, that's really cool - I've learned a lot today
Back to fishing...we basically fished the same areas that I wrote about on 4/23/11. Today though was quite a bit different than last Saturday - there wasn't hardly any wind, it was a little warmer, and the water level was probably 2' lower - it was predominantly overcast most of the day, but no rain, and no wind. The water temperature is ~65 F and slightly stained. At one point, Ethan broke out the crappie rig and noodled a couple out of the back end of Barley Branch - Ahhh... just like his uncle he loves a mixed bag. It was a great day of fishing. Thank you Lord for a beautiful day.
Total - 15 bass, best fish ~3lbs.
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