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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Warblers, etc.: State Park boardwalk loop

Text and photos (all copyrighted) by Tony Leukering

After a nicely diverse morning flight (23 sp of warblers, etc., including the below Connecticut Warbler) at Higbees on 25 September, birders working the fields there were a bit

disappointed. In such conditions, some of the locals will tell you to check out the State Park. That is because it has a strong tendency to hold birds when Higbees doesn't, and yesterday's showing there was even better than usual! As Don noted below, some 21 species of warblers were found along the boardwalk loop in the trail system. One of the most interesting aspects of the show, and the main feature behind the attraction of birding the site, was that there wasn't a large number of birds present, but what birds were present were not going anywhere. One could ogle all the members of a small flock for long periods without worrying about one or more members slipping away unogled.

Though warblers were certainly the main draw yesterday, other winged beasties attracted attention, particularly a fairly obliging and well-marked Alder Flycatcher.

Red-eyed Vireo was one of the more numerous non-warbler species present, with this individual providing the best photo ops.

The warblers that were most obliging, for me anyway (particularly for interesting poses), were Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue, Pine, Western Palm, American Redstart, and Common Yellowthroat (immature and adult males).






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