View from the Minnesota! (Guest Blog)

Here at View from the Field, you never know what you might find (like Doug's awesome booby from the other day). Today we bring you a guest entry from a friend to the west. Cameron Rutt grew up birding in Pennsylvania with Cape May a short weekend trip away. He has traveled extensively in the pursuit and study of birds (including two seasons in Borneo) and joins us now from his current outpost as a counter at Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minnesota:

Greetings from Hawk Ridge (Duluth, Minnesota) , 1000 miles to the west and 8 degrees north of Cape May. Leaving the mid-Atlantic in August was like fast-forwarding a month
(or two!), and by early September, long johns had become permanently fused to my skin (sadly, ice scrapers have already been necessary). The change in latitude has my east coast migration timetables in constant need of adjustments. Like today, an American Tree Sparrow appeared around the platform (!), while Broad-winged Hawks continued
to trickle overhead.

Karl Bardon (a previous sea watch counter) and I monitor the passerine flights each day along the shore of Lake Superior. Needless to say, our morning flights are a bit different than those atop the dike. For one, we actually count *migrating* European Starlings and House Finches. Instead of 100s or 1000s of flickers, occasional Black-backed Woodpeckers treat us with views of their passage. And neotropical warbler flights can be dominated by Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, that is, before the Yellow-rumpeds arrive. Raptor-speaking, the Accipiter "problem" is much simplified here, where 1 Cooper's Hawk is counted for every 127 Sharp-shinned Hawks! And Bald Eagles (1335 and counting) outstrip American Kestrels!

So far this season, Karl and I have tallied 189,686 non-raptors, mostly diurnal migrants like Blue Jay (63,261), Cedar Waxwing (34,309), American Robin (13,214), and Rusty Blackbird (8,450). But we've also had days where thousands of neotropical warblers zip by in the morning, including birds that appear to be engaging in onward migration, or a continuation of their nocturnal flight (unlike the dike's redetermined migration). Sometimes, some strange mixed flocks occur. Twice now, I've seen groupings that have included Lapland Longspurs and Pine Siskins! Below are some of the more interesting
non-raptor daily high counts, since we began in mid-August:

Cliff Swallow - 1575 (8/16)
Eastern Kingbird - 155 (8/24)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 51 (8/24)
Red-winged Blackbird - 1385 (8/24)
Common Nighthawk - 1563 (8/29)
Cedar Waxwing - 12612 (8/29)
Blue Jay - 7612 (9/14)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 58 (9/18)
American Goldfinch - 877 (9/18)
Lapland Longspur - 714 (9/24)
Cackling Goose - 233 (9/24)
Sandhill Crane - 161 (9/25)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4198 (9/26)* Not all identified to species,
but the vast majority YRWA
American Pipit - 1056 (9/27)
American Robin - 3192 (9/30)*
Rusty Blackbird - 5100 (9/30)

[* = In all likelihood, peak flights are yet to come.Cameron Rutt]

Cameron Rutt

currently in Duluth, Minnesota