Magic!
It's possible I birded a bit too hard in Aug & Sep... I think the El Nino fueled lack of "code red" birding weather may also be playing a role. Long story short, I haven't been out and about as much recently. Save for a touch of night birding. Some decent days recently have also happened to line up with other commitments.
Some moderately OK weather was enough to break the streak. Oct 21, 2026. A few hours on a nice SE wind after a decent movement on radar. I did forget my bins, but what can you do.
The burbs.. or at least, the migratory species in flight are listed below... I clicked PUFI, CEDW and AMRO x10 to inform my other estimates:
Common Loon 3
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 13
Sharp-shinned Hawk 41
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker 5
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 1
Blue Jay 200
American Crow 225
Horned Lark 30
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
European Starling 12000
Eastern Bluebird 11
American Robin 1740
Cedar Waxwing 240
American Pipit 80
House Finch 45
Purple Finch 480
White-winged Crossbill 17
Pine Siskin 520
American Goldfinch 350
Lapland Longspur 10
Chipping Sparrow 3
Dark-eyed Junco 20
White-throated Sparrow 3
Red-winged Blackbird 5000
Brown-headed Cowbird 100
Rusty Blackbird 3500
Common Grackle 7500
blackbird sp. 2500
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 50
Some birders chase vagrants... Some try for high counts... I like to find the right combo of weather & geography that makes me say "wow, that was great!" when it's all said and done. Non-stop birds for ~2 hrs. The flight lines were good. The light was good. Magic!
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was interesting. It lingered for a few minute before launching high & going south. It didn't have much of a tail. Are birds like this simply "late"? Due to injury or something? Did it get blown north at some point?
The 3500 RUBL & 1740 AMRO were fun counts for the fall. An Orange-crowned Warbler in flight was a nice surprise.
Finches are really up to something as well. The ~480 PUFI was delightful. Small numbers of WWCR is an unusual treat around here. Siskins are always great. No RECR yet, but I have to assume they're on route given the massive counts along Lake Superior.
I tried again on the 23rd. Comparable species. A fun kickoff of a hawk flight (but I had to leave). The wind was slightly different. There was more of a chill in the air. The flight lines were more spread out, with birds pushing inland. My only WWCR was at dawn - I suspect they were flying - just not as close to the shoreline!
So now what?! I'll probably be tempted to just stay home, bird the yard, and garden given the beautiful weather... but I've also got Townsend's Solitaire on the brain, as a bit of a nemesis bird... Time will tell what happens. Models are hinting at a stormier pattern shift in November. Not super November stormy as far as I can tell (not yet, at least) - but a lot more stormy than this 20C, Sunny and no wind pattern.
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