View from the Field: Morning Flight, 15 September 2015

The day after... And there was still a HUGE flight, Yippee! Last night, a large songbird movement again took place over coastal, southern New Jersey. Light north-northwest winds and clear skies were the conditions towards dawn that charged this particular morning flight.

A calmer night after a strong north and/or west wind is often very good for a high diversity day. The wind direction may not be that crucial either for providing a significant result of some kind. When that's placed in mid-September the potential species diversity soars. With 28 species of warblers recorded today, this was certainly the case. Forty-five or so birders were up on the dike today and shared looks at goodies like Golden-winged, Connecticut, and an overhead Canada Warbler. The joy in the challenge of improving one's skills in ID of birds, especially birds in flight, is endless. It's one of the reasons why the Higbee dike is such a special place. I spotted and called that Canada Warbler a Wilson's initially, and there was a cadre of brothers and sisters in birding to snap me back to reality-- our communally shared perception of things-- the fun and spirit of birding in a group! Three of us saw another warbler go south, overhead, and the look it gave was special, and the bird itself was special, but that's a story for another day.

The magic didn't stop there. Awesomely uncommon birds for the flight count happened like Blue-headed, Warbling, and Philadelphia Vireos, and 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers. It was all good this AM! Rarities tend to come in clusters and we were stunned with excitement of Scott Whittle's booming call-out of "White-winged Dove!"... and a little later on two buntings flew over. One was bright green with yellowish undertail coverts giving a slightly different call. PAINTED BUNTING! At the dike, BOOM! Everyone up there was hyped today.

Oh, did I mention that along with all this it was a huge flight by September standards? I guess I did at the 'Start. Amazing numbers with today's American Redstart total (not even our counting estimate of the warbler sp. total) being higher than the 10-year average annual total for the species. Is it sinking in yet? I don't know if it has for me-- simply unprecedented, and I feel so fortunate to be there to see it and record it for the Morning Flight Project, sponsored by Swarovski Optik and Specteo.

https://raptor.specteo.com/cape-may-bird-observatory/morning-flight/

Species	number
White-winged Dove	1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	5
Belted Kingfisher	1
Red-headed Woodpecker	2
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	11
Eastern Wood-Pewee	1
Traill’s Flycatcher	6
Empidonax sp.	5
Great-crested Flycatcher	1
Eastern Kingbird	5
Blue-headed Vireo	1
Warbling Vireo	1
Philadelphia Vireo	2
Red-eyed Vireo	38
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	19
Veery	2
American Robin	1
Northern Mockingbird	3
European Starling	18
Cedar Waxwing	284
Ovenbird	9
Worm-eating Warbler	1
Northern Waterthrush	51
Golden-winged Warbler	1
Black-and-white Warbler	676
Tennessee Warbler	12
Nashville Warbler	11
Connecticut Warbler	6
Common Yellowthroat	19
American Redstart	4,045
Hooded Warbler	1
Cape May Warbler	31
Northern Parula	676
Magnolia Warbler	9
Bay-breasted Warbler	2
Blackburnian Warbler	13
Yellow Warbler	37
Chestnut-sided Warbler	11
Blackpoll Warbler	50
"Baypoll" warbler	8
Black-throated Blue Warbler	32
Palm Warbler	37
Pine Warbler	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Prairie Warbler	2
Black-throated Green Warbler	20
Canada Warbler	1
Wilson's Warbler	2
warbler sp.	4,274
Chipping Sparrow	1
Savannah Sparrow	2
Sparrow sp.	1
Scarlet Tanager	41
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	9
Indigo Bunting	16
Painted Bunting	1
Dickcissel	4
Bobolink	43
Baltimore Oriole	74
American Goldfinch	7
Total warblers	10,039
estimated American Redstart	7,251
estimated Black-and-white Warbler	1,317
estimated Northern Parula	1,103
Total	10,647