The Scribbling Jay: The warblers are coming, the warblers are coming! (And another visit to Dauphin Island)

So, I wrote this post over a month ago, try to pretend that it is still over a month ago when you read this...
Yes, spring migration is upon us! Neotropical migrants are making their way back from Central and South America, and the weekends have been extremely exciting and fun for birding. Last weekend we saw some early migrants, but this weekend we were captivated by worm-eating warbler, black-throated green warbler, hooded warbler, prothonotary warbler, Louisiana waterthrush, Nashville warbler, yellow-throated warbler, great crested flycatcher, eastern kingbird, and chimney swift. There were also many shorebirds on the move including American avocet, Wilson's and snowy plover, whimbrel, and we also found a sandwich tern.
We started the weekend at Ward Bayou on Saturday. Eamon and I got up before dawn and started the day by just leaving the trail and road and following any interesting bird sounds we heard. There were prothonotary warblers and Louisiana waterthrush right away, but some poking around the woods turned up a pair of great crested flycatchers. We reached the back of a stream and turned up our first hooded warbler of the year, a handsome male with a full dark hood. After this we went back to the road and to one of the trails. On the trail we came across a barred owl sitting on top of a large dead tree snag. He flew away from us, but not very far, and we soon heard two red-shouldered hawks squawking away. To our surprise, one of the hawks came in and attacked the barred owl by diving and striking it! The barred owl just sat there for a second and then flew away. It was quite an exciting ordeal to actually be able to see.