Morning Flight - Thursday, August 1, 2019

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Fall 2019 migration count season! It seems strange to be talking about fall while most people are still enjoying their summer vacations, but birds don't subscribe to our views of the seasons and there are plenty of songbirds already winging their way south.

This morning provided evidence of that fact with a solid flight of Yellow Warblers, a fitting way to kick off the season! Over the course of the morning we tallied over fifty of the bright little Warblers as they redirected and flew north, away from the daunting Delaware Bay crossing.

Two of the 50+ Yellow Warblers we counted this morning

While the Yellow Warblers were the undisputed highlight of the morning, there were a few other migrant species sprinkled in in smaller numbers. A lone Northern Waterthrush (a prominent feature in early September mornings) was a nice sign of flights to come. Two Orchard Orioles were fun to see; this species is an early season migrant and will be all but gone by the end of August. We'll certainly try to enjoy them while they last!

Swallows like this Tree Swallow were abundant around the Dike this morning, though most lacked any strong migratory direction

Local birds (AKA future migrants) also put on a show this morning, with dozens of Swallows zipping by. Indigo Buntings are still singing their hearts out from the Phragmites, and American Goldfinches are zooping around in display flights as this is still the middle of their breeding season.

American Goldfinches are still performing display flights on the daily

With one day behind us, we still have an entire season of great things to come! The south winds predicted for the next week may not provide us with any strong movements, but there's always something fun happening on the Dike! You can check out our daily Morning Flight totals on the New Jersey Audubon website at https://njaudubon.org/watches/morning-flight/. Huge thanks to our sponsors: Swarovski Optik and Actions@EBMF, and thank you to Trektellen for our continued partnership.

See you in the field!

Jerald Reb