Weekly Report - 2017-10-06 - Late Migrants Make for Great Mornings!

This morning's walk was cloaked in a layer of thickness as the humidity and higher than usual temperatures brought a late-summer feeling. These conditions may have given me a frizzy hair day, but I would say that was the only negative of this morning's walk. Boy was this place birdy!

The songbird activity seemed to be unusually high for what I expect this time of year. Lots of little songbirds bopping about treetops, foraging for insects and berries. Many of these species gave me great views, but I'm willing to bet I overlooked quite a few things with all the activity. I was first greeted with an attractive pair of Common Yellowthroat. Then, a House Wren made its presence known as it was foraging alongside a female type American Redstart.

Finally, the star of the show was a fall plumaged Chestnut-sided Warbler coming in way close on the basswood tree along the main trail for a photo op! The first-ever record of this species for the trail was earlier this season on 9/7, but this bird's appearance today is considered a late record, meaning it is late in the migration season for this bird to still be in our area. By now, most Chestnut-sided Warblers are further south on their migratory journey to their wintering grounds in Mexico, Central America, and the Carribean. But don't let this bird's infrequency on the trail fool you into thinking this bird is a local rarity. The scarcity of records for this bird on the trail can be more attributed to a lack of thorough birding on the trail rather than it being rare to the area.

Low-flying Red-shouldered Hawk

Winter Wren

Delco FOS White-throated Sparrow

31 species seen this week on the trail:

Canada Goose

Turkey Vulture

Red-shouldered Hawk

Rock Pigeon

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Blue Jay