September Week 2

14th September – star find goes to yet another caterpillar

A very still cloudy morning brought the first Blue-headed Vireo to the yard as 400 Blue Jays passed over that seemed to unsettle the Goldfinches reducing our catch to only 32. 47 birds found their way into the nets with the most common being 8 Blackpoll Warblers and new for the season were a couple of Northern Flickers. Dave came up trumps again mid-morning with the discovery of two splendid Promethea Moth caterpillars along net lane 3.


Promethea Moth

Around in the harbour hid a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. Whilst staring skyward 10 Red-tailed and 6 Broad-winged Hawks circled high with 4 Bald Eagles. A trip to Point Traverse towards the end of the day was very disappointing with just 3 Western Palm Warblers and a male Downy Woodpecker being seen.

13th September – the one that got away

Light northeast winds continued over night with the radars indicting that many birds were on their way south. The day was mainly cloudy and the nets were much more productive with 12 species of warbler, 2 Philadelphia Vireos and 7 Brown Creepers all helping towards the days tally of 240 birds but the most help came from the 158 Goldfinches! This brought our fall total to more than 2000 birds, not a bad start being well up on the best fall ever so we will just have to wait a see what happens over the next 3 weeks!


Sharp-shinned Hawk

A visiting birder in the morning reported a Connecticut Warbler around at the lighthouse so after the nets were closed we headed around but all we could find were Blackpoll, Bay-breasted, Black and White, Black-throated Blue and Magnolia Warblers mixed in with a few Brown Creepers and a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

12th September – raptor watch

Overnight a light northeasterly wind developed and a cloudy morning dropped in a Cap May Warbler and Winter Wren both being firsts for the fall. The nets were slightly busier with 37 birds caught including a late Canada Warbler and a Scarlet Tanager and I can’t forget the 3rd ever Merlin for the observatory, whilst Goldfinch numbers dropped to 146.


Merlin

15:00 hrs arrived and as the sun started to warm things up it was obvious raptors were becoming active so I spent an hour on the mound. Here are my totals - 75 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 44 Turkey Vulture, 7 Red-tailed Hawk, 5 Bald Eagle, 2 Northern Harrier along with single Merlin, Kestrel and Osprey.


Bald Eagle

11th September – record low return from nets

Much the same weather as yesterday and straight away the signs were bad when Dave could only manage ten species on census!! Banding was consequently slow as a single Black and White, Magnolia, Nashville and 4 Common Yellowthroats appeared from the nets. Thankfully there was a steady turnover of Goldfinches to keep us occupied as the first real movement of Blue Jays moved over with 2 of the 100+ finding their way into a net bringing the grand total of 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! birds from 26 nets in 6 hours. (Wow that’s productive!)


Red Bat

However the days tally was boosted by 187 American Goldfinch resulting in an above average day. Also seen during the morning was a Red Bat that choose to roost under a leaf on a path side tree.

10th September – warbling beats record

A bright day with the wind back in the south. Out of the nets came a few more birds with the most stunning being a Northern Parula shortly followed by a Philadelphia Vireo along with a late record breaking Warbling Vireo. Goldfinch numbers increased on the feeders with 47 being trapped. An after lunch walk to the lighthouse was deadly quiet with a 1st calendar year Bald Eagle being the best sighting as it perched overlooking the harbour.


Bald Eagle

9th September – brisk north easterly

A day with a strong wind and patchy cloud resulted in a poor mornings banding as were dropped even lower to 21 birds and without the 10 Magnolia Warblers it could be much lower! Thankfully there was more activity above the trees with many Sharp-shinned Hawks whizzing by along with an Osprey, Merlin, American Kestrel, 2 Northern Harriers and 3 Bald Eagles. Apparently very unusual on this wind direction as most of the birds were heading back north.


Merlin

An evening stroll to the harbour found a Green and Great Blue Heron in residence.

8th September – clumsy Grouse

The week carried on from last week with calm settled sunny weather and very few birds finding the nets! Today catch dropped to just 24 new birds with the most excitement coming from a Ruffed Grouse that had bumped into net 7B, shedding masses of feathers in the process before he was sent back into the undergrowth. A little female Ruby-throated Hummingbird was a good addition to the days tally with Warblers in the form of 3 Black-throated Blue, a Blackpoll, Chestnut-sided and a Tennessee.


Ruby-throated Hummingbird

In the afternoon 3 Least Sandpipers were out on the rocks (no bands present!) along with 4 Spotted Sandpipers. By the evening we had found a Western Palm Warbler but very little else.