Although heavy downpours (2+ inches of rain yesterday and more this morning) and intense nighttime thunderstorms had largely subsided by dawn, I was still delayed by the last remnants of rain and lightning before ascending to my sunrise perch. After the weather broke, the morning turned out to be quite nice, but with moderately strong east winds. I guess this recipe proved just right for Yellow Warblers, which took the opportunity to at last upend American Redstart as the most numerous warbler for the first time this year. An obliging Ovenbird and a flock of six Baltimore Orioles rounded out the list of highlights.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
American Robin - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 7
Yellow Warbler - 41
Prairie Warbler - 1
Black-and-white Warbler - 5
American Redstart - 22
Worm-eating Warbler - 1
Ovenbird - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 18
warbler sp. - 18
Bobolink - 5
Baltimore Oriole - 6
Total = 134
Other highlights include a southbound flight of waterbirds:
Double-crested Cormorant - 48
Great Egret - 15
Snowy Egret - 23
Glossy Ibis - 8
Otherwise, today's 5 Stilt Sandpipers and 27 Black Terns were the high counts from Higbee so far. Lastly, yesterday's Chuck-will's-widow continued between 6:00 - 6:05 AM, before disappearing for good into the woods.
