Morning Flight Sunday August 29, 2010

At the Higbee Dike today, there was yet another warbler flight on clear skies with light winds (which today were SW or W). There weren't as many warblers today as the last three days, but there were some interesting sightings. One was a very surprising, very bright Empidonax flycatcher that zipped over and actually gave all observers extended views - Michael O'Brien also took some photos. Some characters gleaned from the photos suggest Acadian Flycatcher, but given the difficulty of Empid ID, I'll leave it as an Empidonax sp. on the count totals. A Yellow-throated Warbler late in the morning was a splendid addition to the list (and the third YTWA this week!). A high southbound flock of Northern Shoveler and Northern Pintail was a strong reminder that despite afternoon temperatures in the 90s, we are well into the fall migration (in case the boreal warblers weren't enough of a tip off)!Northern Waterthrush in morning flight. Higbees Beach (Tom Johnson).


Black-throated Blue Warbler in morning flight. Higbees Beach (Tom Johnson).



Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 8/29/10
Notes: Clear, light variable wind, 70-75 F; observers almost outnumbered the warblers, but there was a small flight anyway. Only species engaged in morning flight are listed below.
Number of species: 22

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris 6
Empidonax sp. - Empidonax sp. 2 *one possible Acadian photographed by M'OB high overhead, very unusual view and a very difficult ID!
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus 260
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus 10
Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis 17
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 24
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos 1
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum 11
Tennessee Warbler - Vermivora peregrina 1
Northern Parula - Parula americana 1
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 8
Cape May Warbler - Dendroica tigrina 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - Dendroica caerulescens 4
Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens 1
Yellow-throated Warbler - Dendroica dominica 1
Prairie Warbler - Dendroica discolor 2
Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia 5
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla 53
Northern Waterthrush - Seiurus noveboracensis 32
Canada Warbler - Wilsonia canadensis 1
warbler sp. - Parulinae sp. 19
Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea 2
Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus 18
Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula 12

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)