It was another relatively tranquil day on the dike this morning, as we are currently experiencing a period of southerly winds and warmer temperatures (but see the upcoming weather summary at the bottom for the promising conditions on the horizon).
Still, it’s October and the zugunruhe flows no matter the conditions! Nearly all migrants were headed south this morning, as we had a couple hundred Yellow-rumped Warblers headed south along with a number of Blue Jay (156) and Red-bellied Woodpecker (7). There was a notable uptick in Red-winged Blackbird movement, with 416 that were also southbound and down. Otherwise the morning consisted of small numbers of the usual early October cast (although 3 close Scarlet Tanagers were a nice treat).
With respect to upcoming weather, here’s what I wrote yesterday: “A strong cold front is predicted to arrive Thursday night and continue through Saturday, so this could bring about our first big Yellow-rumped Warbler day of the fall along with a whole host of other species like Blackpolls, Cape Mays, Parulas, and more. Yellow-rumps are unjustly looked down upon for their abundance (in a certain sense, they’re the most successful warbler), but I for one, welcome our Myrtle overlords. Seeing a big flight of them is a real spectacle, especially with all the other great stuff that is frequently mixed in.”
So come visit if you can! 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment