In the wee hours of Saturday morning the wind shifted from NE to NW; a welcome change that brought us a solid morning of birding. While not massive,the flight was perfect, manageable and diverse with a few goodies thrown in for added interest. 19 species of warblers were observed in morning flight while the presents of the morning flight adverse Common Yellowthroats around the dike added a twentieth species for the morning. Including 82 warbler sp, 532 warblers were counted. A handful of Scarlet Tanagers and a great flight of Baltimore Oriole added non-warbler spice. Highlights included 2! Olive-sided Flycatchers and 2! Prothonotary Warblers. These two species of early migrants along with an excellent late movement of Yellow Warblers gave the flight more of an August feel. Non bird highlights included a stunning Comet Darner and the naturalist on the morning flight platform spotted a Swamp Darner that had captured a Common Green Darner and was eating it alive!
Totals below are for all birds seen and include species or individuals not participating in morning flight.
Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/5/09
Number of species: 91
Mallard 6
Green-winged Teal 1
Brown Pelican 9
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Merlin 1
Semipalmated Plover 3
Killdeer 2
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Whimbrel 1
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Sanderling 65
Semipalmated Sandpiper 55
Western Sandpiper 2
Least Sandpiper 15
Laughing Gull 80
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 6
Great Black-backed Gull 45
Common Tern 90
Forster's Tern 15
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon 30
Mourning Dove 18
Common Nighthawk 5
Chimney Swift 12
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 2 In and out for most of the first two hours. Incredibly dark vested.
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Alder Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 75
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 18
Fish Crow 10
Purple Martin 15
Tree Swallow 20
Bank Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 80
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Veery 7
American Robin 8
Gray Catbird 12
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 180
Cedar Waxwing 45
Tennessee Warbler 4
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 47
Yellow Warbler 74
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 4
Cape May Warbler 6
Black-throated Blue Warbler 20
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Pine Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 8
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 29
American Redstart 217
Prothonotary Warbler 2 Great looks!
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 28
Common Yellowthroat 3
Scarlet Tanager 8
Northern Cardinal 6
Blue Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 2
Bobolink 300
Red-winged Blackbird 120
Common Grackle 8
Baltimore Oriole 83
House Finch 7
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 12
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