Morning Flight – 19 September 2014

It was a good morning at the dike. A widespread nocturnal flight over the Northeast appeared to reach Cape May after midnight, and though the winds had shifted to (and were steadily increasing from) the northeast, many birds peppered the Higbee sky at daybreak.

Today's was a front-heavy flight, with the majority of it in the books by about 8:00am. American Redstart, Northern Parula, and Palm Warbler served as the warbler frontrunners, and there were many silhouettes over the back treeline that went unnamed. "Best" birds of the morning included two Connecticut Warblers, two late Summer Tanagers, a Bay-breasted Warbler, and a Philadelphia Vireo. 

      Weather and time: mostly sunny and dry; 55–70 ºF; winds NE at 10–20 mph; 20–40% cloud cover; excellent visibility; 0645 sunrise; 4.25 hours. Observer: Tom Reed.

       Morning Flight Count totals
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  3
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  144
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)  5
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)  2
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  9
Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus)  1
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)  12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  13
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)  170
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)  6
Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)  27
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  53
Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina)  6
Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla)  2
Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis)  2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  302
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)  10
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)  265 
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  5
Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea)  1
Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)  2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  3
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)  5
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)  29
Bay-breasted/Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga castanea/striata)  13
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)  24
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)  131
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  3
Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor)  3
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)  5
warbler sp. (Parulinae sp.)  242
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  1
Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)  2
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)  7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  9
Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea)  2
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  12
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)  23
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  29
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  19
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  8

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