There was a fun morning flight today on the heels of yesterday’s big flight! Although it quickly became evident that the bulk of the birds brought in on Friday’s front had bailed yesterday (there were “only” 33 northbound flickers today), there were still quite a few species moving in healthy abundance. Golden-crowned Kinglets were once again moving in good numbers, with 50 northbound past us (thanks again, Adehl!). Yellow-rumped Warblers (698) and Blackpoll (138) were once again the most abundant warblers.
Like yesterday, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers also continued to engage in morning flight; we had 12 of these sulphur-washed stunners head north. The boreal cadre also moved in moderate numbers today, as Red-breasted Nuthatch (42 north), Purple Finch (20 north), and Blue Jay (98 south) flew by the dike.
Lastly, and once again unexpectedly, the fascinating Yellow-billed Cuckoo phenomenon continued today (and I couldn’t fathom that it would’ve). The new record day count established yesterday was smashed once more, with *nine* Yellow-billed Cuckoos going north past the dike; observers further up along the Delaware Bayshore noted a healthy 15, but they weren’t nearly as concentrated as yesterday.
Tom Reed and others have actually hypothesized that these birds were brought in not by the backdoor cold front, but by Hurricane Michael itself, which essentially suckerpunched the southeast with a fast moving left hook that brought the remnants of its eye close to Cape May. That would certainly go a long way towards explaining the stupendous abundance of cuckoos; further analysis will be required to bear that answer out.
As always, you can find our official count totals on Trektellen here, and our complete eBird checklist of the day’s observations here.
Bring on the next day!
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