Morning Flight Thursday October 1

Surely a lineup of 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, a Parasitic Jaeger, the first YB Cuckoo since early September, a calling Bicknell's Thrush along with three Gray-cheeked Thrushes, 19 species of warblers including 4 Connecticuts, 3 Bay-breasted, and 2 Blackburnians, Lincoln's and Clay-colored Sparrows, and the first Rusty Blackbird of the season would be enough to make anyone happy. You might think so but you would be wrong. It all comes down to expectations, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, and my expectations were for a stunning movement of passerines. Scanning the list below the number of species is impressive as is the number of scarce birds, but the overall numbers of individuals is quite pedestrian. Knowing that this was one of the last chances for a large push of a number of the earlier migrant warblers I was near apoplectic with rage when a major push did not develop and I treated the handful of visitors to the dike to a minor tantrum. It blows my mind that over the past 6 weeks of counting the dike I have not had a single classic cold front. Not a single front that pushed through quickly the day before bringing a distinct drop in temperature, clear skies, and steady Northwest winds maintained throughout the night and into the next morning. Oh well, we shall overcome.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 10/1/09
Number of species: 97

Wood Duck 6 typical oval shaped flock
Mallard 5
Blue-winged Teal 2
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 4
Double-crested Cormorant 8
Snowy Egret 4
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 8
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12
Cooper's Hawk 9
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 6
Killdeer 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 9
Least Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 8
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Laughing Gull 200
Ring-billed Gull 8
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 55
Forster's Tern 8
Royal Tern 4
Parasitic Jaeger 1 DM. Large and powerful individual heading up the bay.
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 First in weeks!
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 178
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 6
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 65
Fish Crow 4
Tree Swallow 45
Carolina Chickadee 3
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 3 Calling before sunrise.
Bicknell's Thrush 1 Calling right at the base of the Dike early then retreating farther back unto the trees as the morning progressed, occasionally calling.
American Robin 8
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 60
Cedar Waxwing 54
Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 3
Northern Parula 54
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Cape May Warbler 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler 17
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 29
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 159
Bay-breasted Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 41
Black-and-white Warbler 3
American Redstart 4
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Connecticut Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 18
Scarlet Tanager 7
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Blue Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 4
Bobolink 2
Red-winged Blackbird 45
Rusty Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 6
Boat-tailed Grackle 3
Baltimore Oriole 8
American Goldfinch 8

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