Light west winds overnight produced exactly the result I expected: a solid flight early that quickly tapered off. Good light, good company, and a few exciting birds made for a very enjoyable morning. In the second hour Bob Fogg alerted us via text message to a Red-headed Woodpecker flying towards the Dike from the sough end of Higbee. Three minutes later the very bird appeared and lit in the top a tree. It sat there basking in the morning sun and in the admiration of the assembled birders for the better part of 15 minutes. A bit later a flock of Black-bellied Plovers with a gorgeous juvenile American Golden-Plover in tow circled the impoundment, flying right over our heads before disappearing up the bayshore. One rather uncooperative Connecticut Warbler headlined a solid lineup of 17 species of warblers.
For those keeping track at home we added three species to the total for the Morning Flight project this season, American Black Duck, Surf Scoter and Parasitic Jaeger. Thanks to James Smith for spotting the Jaeger way out on the Bay. With the additions today, there have been 196 species seen from the Dike this season. Those who know me know I'm far too gracious to truly be competitive, but it is worth noting that we are rather handily kicking the tails of those slouches at the Hawkwatch when it comes to species totals for the season!
Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/28/09
Number of species: 78
American Black Duck 1
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Mallard 6
Blue-winged Teal 8
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 4
Surf Scoter 3
Black Scoter 12
Double-crested Cormorant 16
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Kestrel 3
Merlin 3
Black-bellied Plover 8
American Golden-Plover 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 85
Ring-billed Gull 15
Herring Gull 8
Great Black-backed Gull 30
Forster's Tern 12
Royal Tern 6
Parasitic Jaeger 1 Head south along the middle of the Bay. Appeared to be an arriving migrant.
Rock Pigeon 35
Mourning Dove 8
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 53
Eastern Phoebe 1
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 12
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 35
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 5
House Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 115
Cedar Waxwing 35
Tennessee Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 40
Yellow Warbler 3
Magnolia Warbler 5
Cape May Warbler 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 7
Black-throated Green Warbler 5
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 31
Blackpoll Warbler 41
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 35
Northern Waterthrush 2
Connecticut Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Scarlet Tanager 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 8
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 2
Bobolink 9
Red-winged Blackbird 65
Common Grackle 8
Baltimore Oriole 5
American Goldfinch 6
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