5 responses to “Heaviest migration yet this spring”

1. Well, HMF wasn’t the best place this morning- although some nice birds were around and more might show up throughout the day as it warms up and/or birds move to better habitat. Highlights were FOS White-eyed Vireo and Black-and-white Warbler.

   Here’s my list from 1 hour this AM:

   StartTime: 6:30 AM WindDir: CloudCover: none

   EndTime: 7:45 AM Location: HMF

   Notes: Walked the yard, display fields, aviary, and woods loop.
   Density was mediocre, given the heavy migration last
   night. FOS Black-and-White Warbler. Warmup was again
   very rapid.

   English Name Scientific Name Notes

   Wood Duck Aix sponsa – 1 through woods

   Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias – 2 flyovers

   Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus –

   Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis –

   Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura –

   Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens –

   Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus –

   Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus –

   White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus – 1

   Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius – in the yard

   Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata –

   American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos –

   Fish Crow Corvus ossifragus –

   Chickadee sp. Poecile sp. – CARCHI song

   Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor –

   White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis –

   Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus –

   Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea – 1

   Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus –

   American Robin Turdus migratorius –

   Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos –

   Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum –

   Monday, April 23, 2007 Page 17 of 18

   Daily Walk Report

   Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata –

   Prairie Warbler Dendroica discolor – singing, same

   Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia – 1

   Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus –

   Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla –

   Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia –

   White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis –

   Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis –

   Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula –

   Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater –

   American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis –

2. Garret was pretty good this morning.
   New arrivals were B&W Warbler and Green Heron, and Chimney Swift. Brown Thrasher also.

   Lots of Chipping Sparrows, Hermit thrush, Palm & Y-Rump warblers. BH Vireo & BG Gnatcatchers continue along with YB Sapsuckers, Winter Wren, and both Kinglets.

3. Was that a flock over the ocean David?
   I was looking at the images. I am still struggling
   with the interpretation! I am learning.
   We lost our Blue-headed Vireos and Ruby-crowned
   Kinglets – looks like Garret got some of those. New for us down in Belleplain was Worm-eating and Summer Tanager. The clear skies with SW winds usually mean stuff moves on for south Jersey – the migrants, with new stuff coming in. Both migrants and breeders.

4. Did a little backyard birding. Had numbers of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Eastern Towhee, Blue Gray
   Gnatcatcher, Chipping Sparrow, flyover Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Still have White-throated Sparrows at the feeders but the Dark-eyed Juncos seem to have left over the weekend. Last had our 4 Pine warblers on April 15th. The adult female remained on and off thereafter up until yesterday, not seen today.

5. Thanks Jim, Sandy and Wendy for posting your observations. They really help paint the larger picture of what all this radar stuff means on the ground. Sandy, I can’t make heads-or-tails of that stuff offshore. Some of it early on has velocity to it- whereas most of it later (when it’s larger) doesn’t. Maybe some if it is stuff moving way offshore, but I suspect it’s mostly noise, or as the weather folks like to call it, anomalous propagation. We’ll have to keep an eye out and see if it happens again!

   Good observation!