Looks like the rain in the earlier part of the night may have kept migration to a minimum. Winds were not very cooperative either. Even though winds were out of the NE on the surface, they continued out of the west at higher, more typical migration altitudes. Some birds are seen taking off just after sunset, but that quickly diminishes as thunderstorms make their way east across our area. Given that, there will still be good birds around, holdovers from yesterday, and some parts (mostly south Jersey) should see a few new birds on account of the early push of birds last night. Tonight should be the next big push with clear skies and calm to northerly winds. Buckle up!
2 responses to ““It’s the rain, man, always keepin’ us down!””
Here’s my list from this morning. Not too different from yesterday, but with a few more species which I think is primarily due to more time spent looking. I’ve added some species I saw yesterday, and indicated the date when applicable.
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
VEERY – FOS
Wood Thrush
American Robin – Only single digits
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler – 1
Prairie Warbler – 3
Black-and-white Warbler – 3
American Redstart – 5
Worm-eating Warbler – Single, yesterday
Common Yellowthroat
Canada Warbler – 1 today, 3 yesterday
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1 ad male, yesterday
Indigo Bunting
Common Grackle – 500+ yesterday
Baltimore Oriole – 2
American Goldfinch
Chris Vogel’s Jerseybirds post:
While there were almost literally no birds at the
Beanery this morning (a Cardinal, a Great Crested
flycatcher, a family of 5 Indigo Buntings and 2
Hummingbirds) and it was almost eerily quiet, the
tenth bird I saw happened to be a Philadelphia Vireo.
I am somewhat surprised that Philly precedes my first,
Warbling, but most pleasantly so.
(The eleventh bird was an adult male Prairie Warbler
on a telephone wire, then the flight really shut
down…)
The meadows rather cleared out of shorebirds, but
present were:
1 American Wigeon- first I have heard of
1 Pintail- likewise. Both interestingly plunked in not
all that long after sunrise, the Pintail following the
Wigeon by about 10 minutes
14 Blue-winged Teal
7 Greenwings
1 Virginia Rail
a couple of Soras
The American Avocet- getting on time to give him a
name.
4-5 Pectorals
60 or so Stilt Sandpipers
3 White-rumped Sandpipers
2 Long-billed Dowitchers
Most interestingly there is an extremely young
-fledged and flying, but still not grown, and with a
gingery bloom on the nape-Least Tern being fed on the
meadows beach, as well as some older juv’s still
begging from parents.
14 Juv Black Terns kept circling in like
muppet-inspired bats and plucking or landing on a bar
in unison, not unlike shorebirds.
There were maybe 150 Bobolinks
In the very brief time I gave it at Higbee’s Beach
there were
easily 500 Eastern Kingbirds, and probably 200 Cedar
Waxwings. Bobolinks were also going over in lesser
numbers. That was a bit later in the morning and just
in the first field, though.
Least and Traill’s Flycatchers as well as E. Pewee
were all represented as singletons. A Magnolia
Warbler, and 5-6 of Norhtern Waterthrushes, Black and
White Warblers and Ovenbirds were in the hedgerows,
Blue Gorsbeaks, field Sparrows chats and some others
of the local breeders are still singing and feeding
young.etc.