Today there was an intriguing flight. The first 1.5 hours after sunrise was a fairly typical flight, although maybe heavier than expected, with birds flying north. These seemed to be migrants that arrived in Cape May a few hours before dawn and then were seen engaging in the morning flight phenomenon-- following the conventional idea of what this project is all about. During the second half of the four and a quarter hour effort, the songbirds, and predominantly Yellow-rumps (as expected at this time) were seen coming in high and from the Delaware Bay, moving south. These were apparent to be two different sets of migrants in different modes of migration, specific to where they were at sunrise-- the first set having dropped down on land some time before daylight, and the second set just making landfall from the bay.
Weather and time: sun with increasing clouds; 41-58 degrees F; winds SE at 5-8 mph; 2-40% cloud cover; excellent visibility; 0714 sunrise; 4.25 hours.
Morning Flight Count totals:
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 2Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 31 20 north, 11 south, maybe some of the same individuals
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 4
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 50 some back south, thought to be the same individuals
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 10
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 82 63 south, 19 north
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 8
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 9
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) 2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 65 27 north, 38 south
American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) 29 14 north, 15 south
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 36 19 north, 17 south
Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina) 1
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) 2 1 north, 1 south
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) 2
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) 43 35 north, 8 south
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) 1 south
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 3049 1499 north, 1550 south
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) 1 south
warbler sp. (Parulinae sp.) 706 690 north, 16 south
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 20
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 9
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 1
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) 1 south
Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) 37
Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) 8 1 north, 7 south
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) 1
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 53 22 north, 31 south
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 74 60 north, 14 south
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) 63 52 north, 11 south
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 24 south
No comments:
Post a Comment