Thursday saw a light but steady southbound movement on the tail end of Wednesday’s massive onward movement. While nowhere near as abundant as the day before, several hundred Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Common Grackles still flew south past the count. Finches comprised a significantly higher proportion of the flight (or perhaps they’re just easier to find when the sky isn’t full of birds). The late-season pulse of House Finches has arrived-- 133 southbound individuals were counted, as dozens of American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin also made appearances.
Finches are clearly still moving, but Blue Jays and Red-breasted Nuthatches, the other two classic boreal irruptors, seem virtually finished with their fall migration. We are only getting single digits of them now! Northbound pairs of Tufted Titmouse and Baltimore Oriole, and a southbound adult Pine Warbler were nice bonuses for the morning.
Very few species were moving on Friday’s straight south winds, and in tiny numbers (the most abundant species total was 31 southbound robins). 10 northbound Rusty Blackbirds and a southbound Cackling Goose were the highlights of the morning.
Bring on the next day!
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