The wind gods couldn’t quite decide who was in charge this morning. We started off with a gentle push from the south, only for the winds to pull a quick U-turn and swing in from the northeast just in time to gum up the works later. The migration faucet stayed open just enough to get us within striking distance of the magic number of 100, ending the morning with a satisfying 99 species. So close it hurts.
Among the highlights, today was a tardy Rusty Blackbird calling by the tower before continuing east and a fine pair of cuckoos—both Black-billed and Yellow-billed. A hard to find Blue Grosbeak put in an appearance, and the numbers of High Blue Jays and Cedar Waxwings suggested we’re in the sweet spot of mid-May turnover. Kingbirds made a respectable showing, with a modest push of Eastern Kingbirds, and the treetops were just humming, Tennessee Warblers were practically shaking the leaves off with their high-pitched sewing-machine songs.
19 warbler species made the list, including Cape May, Wilson’s, Bay-breasted, and Blackburnian, though there were certainly more zipping by that got away clean. With this kind of variety and volume, we’re undoubtedly brushing up against the peak of spring warbler migration.
A full 1,081 individual birds were counted over the five-hour watch. Check out today’s list here. We added seven new species to now put the May eBird Report to 140 species!
Had tern just banked when flying by, we’d have hit 100 species. But we’ll take 99 with smiles and sore necks. It continues tomorrow!
Tags: longshore flight survey
