Just a really quick post... Unfortunately we are ~10 days too early for prime crazy vagrant hunting birding, but the weather is spectacular.
http://hint.fm/wind/
The wind map right now has super strong winds all the way from the Gulf right into Ontario... The air is extremely humid... This pattern is expected to hold into mid day tomorrow (Monday) - meaning something crazy could happen tonight...
http://www.intellicast.com/National/Radar/Current.aspx?location=default®ion=SPI&animate=true
Lake Michigan was better situated last night for birds, and the Chicago area (specifically Montrose) had something like this: Henslow's, LeConte's, Nelson's and Lark Sparrows, Yellow-throated Warbler, Piping Plover and Marbled Godwits...
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Keep an eye on the radar for the migration tonight...
Ken Burrell and I have been lurking around Pelee for the last few days (wanted to go to the Island, but the stupid ferry broke)... Nothing crazy but some fun birds.
4 species of Warbler today with 2 Parula's and a bright Palm Warbler. Check them out:
Bright enough to get integrade status?
And Parula #1 --- it was really far away. so I was happy to get this
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Another major story of the day was a MASSIVE movement of Red Admirals at Pelee. We didn't (and probably couldn't) count, but they were absolutely everywhere.
Twice I was able to count 5+ Red Admirals within 10 seconds of opening out hotel door (near the Heinz factory in town). I counted 8 in 30 seconds after leaving Domino's Pizza nearby. Driving the roads in town yielded a continuous stream of individuals flying north. In any habitat, and lawns that had flowering dandelions contained dozens of individuals.
Pretty crazy
Still 10 days away? From Magee Marsh yesterday:
ReplyDelete-Hooded Warbler
-Yellow-throated Warbler
-American Avocet
-American White Pelican
Also ibis sp., Say's Phoebe, and White-winged Dove just across the lake in Ohio!
We will be surrounded by rarities in nearby states before the flood gates really open here in Ontario! There's a history of a light sprinkling of rarities in Ontario in the April 10-20th time frame (the Scissor-tail can fall into that category)... But things rarely ever go really crazy in Ontario before Apr 25th (just by looking at historical records)
DeleteKen and I had a good taste of it at Pelee over the last few days, where there were good birds to be found, but the birding was generally slow
Should also have mentioned, that if we had weather like this in the last few days of April, we'd all (at least myself and some others) be running around like a crazy people looking for something on the level of past birds like Lesser Nighthawk, Black-capped Vireo, Mottled Duck level ... Although who really knows, since this has been a pretty crazy year so far
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