With 2 hours of sleep under my belt, it was time to try to hand-hold the 600 mm lens & blast at flying warblers... Not terribly showy, but Northern Waterthrush is a species that I am always hoping to improve my images of, so this was a highlight:
Overall though, my photo-efforts were once again "fine" ... I'm not terribly happy with most of what I put on ebird, but they're good enough to keep for reference.
One highlight was my 2nd trip in a row with Eastern Whip-poor-will observations (in flight!)... I assume two different birds, but it's hard to know for sure. Perhaps it's a regular occurrence at a place like this. You just need to start your birding 60 minutes before sunrise?! A Northern House Wren flew over a good 40 mins before sunrise too... As a very-rare-in-flight species, I thought it was pretty interesting...
It was my largest flight of the season based on total number of warblers. A real spectacle! I missed a lot of birds due to my photo efforts once again, but did my best to do a rough tally of warbler numbers as they passed. Blackpoll Warblers had arrived in big numbers.
The tally:
Common Nighthawk 1
Eastern Whip-poor-will 2
Chimney Swift 6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 20
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 8
American Kestrel 12
Merlin 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 55
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 5
Traill's Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 15
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 5
Cassin's/Blue-headed Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 12
Eastern Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 110
Blue Jay 5
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tree Swallow 4
Purple Martin 1
Barn Swallow 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 40
Northern House Wren 1
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 50
Gray Catbird 2
Gray-cheeked Thrush 2
Swainson's Thrush 45
Cedar Waxwing 250
House Sparrow 2
Purple Finch 2
American Goldfinch 40
Red-winged Blackbird 100
Common Grackle 20
Northern Waterthrush 2
Black-and-white Warbler 14
Tennessee Warbler 20
Nashville Warbler 28
Common Yellowthroat 2
American Redstart 25
Cape May Warbler 60
Northern Parula 24
Magnolia Warbler 30
Bay-breasted Warbler 50
Blackburnian Warbler 8
Northern Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 600
Bay-breasted/Blackpoll Warbler 50
Black-throated Blue Warbler 4
Palm Warbler 9
Pine Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 15
Black-throated Green Warbler 20
Wilson's Warbler 15
new world warbler sp. 750
Scarlet Tanager 5
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 8
Indigo Bunting 2
https://ebird.org/checklist/S392967947
I did a short stop at Zion Rd. in Chatham-Kent, and lucked into great looks at a Striped Saddlebags. No photos unfortunately. 18 American White Pelicans flew east with 3 Sandhill Cranes. It will be interesting to see if the pelicans continue their march east in the coming years.
A short hawkwatch near Eagle, ON produced maybe ~750 Broad-winged Hawks, but I couldn't stay very long with commitments at home! I've got my fingers crossed that the right combination of winds & rain over the coming days can produce a big flight of this species. Thankfully, the "boring" El Nino weather continues to produce "good enough" birding conditions on a regular basis. More to come!
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