Weekly Report - 2017-09-15 - The Return of the Nashville Warbler!
The majority of this post was retracted on 10/5/17 by Mr. BQ. Turns out the photographed bird is a Connecticut Warbler, and a link to that can be found here with more information!
Fall migration for songbirds has certainly turned up in the last week, but the species total for the week at BSES does not accurately reflect such activity. Only 17 species were observed this past week on the trail.
Most exciting of all this week is Nashville Warbler. Observed on my morning walk this AM, this bird's appearance is a third all-time record of this species on the nature trail. The first and second observations of this species were on the same day when two different individuals were seen foraging on the edge of the meadow on October 12th, 2012. According to eBird, of all the species that have been seen on the trail ever, this was the species that was last seen longest ago. This means that 120 different species of birds have been seen on the Nature Trail since the last appearance of this species!
Here's the eBird Hotspot Explorer view of the trail's hotspot:
If you scroll to the bottom, you will see that the "last seen" record of this species was at the very bottom of the list #121:
Now that last "last seen" distinction belongs to Pine Siskin. The rest of the species toward the bottom of the list, Northen Pintail, Herring Gull, and Great Black-backed Gull, are birds that were all flyovers over the campus so obtaining other records of them on the property will certainly be a challenge. Could be a long time before the bottom of this list looks different!
Chances are there were far more species out on the trail this week. With fall migration picking up, new migrants are arriving and departing on a daily basis. However, if folks aren't out looking for birds and reporting them, then they won't be found and recorded! Sounds like a painfully obvious concept, but with migration going on, there isn't enough time or manpower to heavily survey the trail since new migrants are arriving and departing every day. It's almost mind boggling to think about how much stuff has been missed in the last two weeks for that very reason!
eBird Lists:
17 Species this week:
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
