A decent day of birding today. A thunderstorm with heavy rain in the morning, with the clouds giving way to a little bit of blue sky in the afternoon. Again, mostly the same birds along the boardwalk this morning, since this weather has been lingering. I had some great photo ops of a Blackburnian Warbler, and about the best view I have ever had of one. Lots of Nashville Warblers today. At Metzger Marsh today, there was a nice migrant flock moving around in the woodlot by the parking area- containing 13 species of warbler, 2 species of empid (Least and "Traill's"), along with a Wood and Gray-cheeked Thrush. Among the warblers were a singing male Canada and a singing male Wilson's. The Black Terns were still present over the marsh. I then proceeded to Krause road, where a third Yellow-headed Blackbird (this one a male) was reported earlier in the day. The wind was howling, and I stuck out on the blackbirds. However, there were 5 Black-bellied Plovers in breeding plumage, 8 Short-billed Dowitchers, and about 70 Lesser Yellowlegs near the observation platform off Stange Road.
I leaned today why the swallows suddenly were swarming yesterday evening and today at Magee- they are feeding on the Muffinheads- a small, abundant insect-which have apparently just emerged with the recent rain.
During the few days I've been up here, I have been absolutely amazed by all the other birders, in particular other young birders (anywhere between about 5 and 25 years old), and all the Amish birders. There were lots of Amish kids birding along the Magee boardwalk the last few days, and the kids outnumbered the adults several to one. Such a striking difference from North Carolina, where you'll be lucky to see another birder all day long.
Tomorrow should be good for the start of a new wave of migrants- this rainy weather should move out by early to mid morning. There were numbers of diurnal migrants on the move this evening- mainly Broad-winged Hawks and large flocks of Blue Jays, which may mean there'll be a new selection in tomorrow. I'll head out to the boardwalk about 0630 tomorrow morning and bird untill 1100 or 1200, then I'll be making tracks towards Missouri!
About Me
- Mike McCloy
- I'm Mike McCloy, a recent graduate from the Natural Resources Conservation and Management program at Western Carolina University who currently works as an Ecologist for an environmental consulting firm in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I have dabbled in seasonal/temporary ornithological field work through the lower 48 states in locations as diverse as Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina. I was raised in a small town in eastern North Carolina and have been an avid birder and curious naturalist since I was a wee little chap of about five years old. Unsurprisingly, birding is the primary motivation behind most of my travels. However, I am becoming increasingly fascinated with other cultural aspects of international travel as and aim to incorporate more of these experiences into my travels and writings in the future. In addition, I hope to use this blog to inspire other travelers (particularly birders and nature enthusiasts) to pursue their dreams both professionally and along the road as well as provide helpful trips and tricks for traveling on a shoestring budget (as I often seem to do!).
It's interesting to hear about your diverse observations of young birders, the Amish, and Muffinheads. I'm glad that your bird sightings are still excellent.
ReplyDeleteGood luck tomorrow!
Dad