some good second-day warblers

The second day after a big migration push -- such as the one that took place yesterday -- can sometimes bring some interesting new arrivals and this morning was no exception. A plump, short-tailed, gray-headed warbler with broken eye-rings bouncing around in low shrubs at the marsh edge was a MOURNING WARBLER; like many fall Mourning Warblers (presumably immatures), this one had a slightly yellowish throat but there was a clear demarcation of the hood running across the breast. In case there was any question about the ID, the bird obligingly called; its rather scratchy/dinky 'twit' sound rules out its Western twin, MacGillivray's Warbler. Another good bird was a TENNESSEE WARBLER (small, short-tailed, olive-green on the back and greener on the crown and rump with a thin but strong eye line and supercilium) rummaging around in the Baccharis and Iva bushes; again, a first-fall bird. And a third in this outstanding warbler trifecta was a CAPE MAY WARBLER in the lower branches of an oak tree at the woodland edge. This was a heavily streaked bird with the black streaking over a strong yellow ground. The streaking extended all the way up to the throat and the yellow ground covered the underparts from the face and neck all the way down to the vent; only the undertail was white. This bird could have been a breeding plumage male except for the lack of chestnut facial patches; even so, there was the barest wisp of color -- a kind of rusty visual echo -- where the patch should have been.

As expected, there were still quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers around accompanied by somewhat smaller numbers of their usual entourage: tail-wagging Palm Warblers and bouncing, cracking Ruby-crowned Kinglets (they make a cracking noise and some even show their ruby crowns). Golden-crowned were not very far away and again easy to see at lower than eye level. The warbler list included Pine, Blackpoll, American Redstart, and Common Yellowthroat. Other birds of the morning included Blue-headed Vireo (no Red-eyed!), a single Eastern Phoebe, a solitary calling Fish Crow flying over, a very few Catbirds, Song and Swamp Sparrows, Am Goldfinches and House Finches, many American Robins on the move and big flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles. There were two Greater Yellowlegs in the pond first thing in the morning and a flight of about a dozen yellowlegs -- probably all of this species -- came overhead a bit later. Also later in the day there were flocks of D-c Cormorants and Canada Geese on the move. And it was a decent raptor day as well with several N Harriers, at least one Am Kestrel and one Merlin and quite a few accipiters, both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned -- all noted in an hour or so of raptor watching. A few Osprey also turned up but, for the first time, there were none perched on the dead stubs at the far end of Pine Neck. The big Osprey push of the past week or two seems to be over and I have the impression that the local Osprey family may have taken off for winter quarters. Also missing: Royal Terns; not a one seen or heard.

Eric Salzman