Morning Flight, 28 August 2015

Friday morning featured a front-loaded movement of (mainly) warblers, though Blue-gray Gnatcatcher also featured prominently. Most of today's action took place during the first hour after sunrise, and included a nice burst of American Redstarts, Black-and-white Warblers, and Northern Waterthrushes, among others.

Following the passage of a cold-ish front, the second half of this week has seen a good run of passerine flights-- something that we can't always count on happening during the 20s of August. Here's a selection of 3-day totals from our recent "good" stretch (Wednesday - Friday):

American Redstart (1090)
Black-and-white Warbler (277)
Blackburnian Warbler (18)
Northern Waterthrush (128)

Looking ahead, we'll settle into more summerlike conditions again this weekend, with southerly winds in the forecast through at least Sunday. A midweek cold front looks like a possibility...stay tuned.

[Eastern Kingbirds make up a big part of the daily scene at 

Higbee right now. Photo by Tom Reed.]

 [Yellow Warbler is among the earliest southbound migrants at Cape May-- 

34 were tallied during this morning's count. Photo by Tom Reed.]

 [Another early migrant, Louisiana Waterthrush typically clears out of Cape May by Labor Day. A total of 4 have been recorded during the first two weeks of Morning Flight. Photo by Tom Reed.]

 [Close-up of Louisiana Waterthrush in flight. Photo by Tom Reed.]