Hooded Warbler, Other Cape Island Migrants

[Everyone's favorite bird - or it oughtta be - Peregrine Falcon by Scott Whittle. Peregrines are double-digits almost every day now. Click to enlarge all photos.]

A cooperative and stunning male Hooded Warbler brightened many folks' day along the red trail at the state park this afternoon, reported to CMBO by Paul Lee of the UK. At 6:00 p.m. it became even more cooperative, as it fed actively and chipped constantly. I suspect this was Zugenruhe - migration restlessness - and this bird is unlikely to be there tomorrow. Other birds on the red trail this evening included Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula, Swainson's Thrush, and Brown Creeper.

A Winter Wren was at the Beanery in the afternoon, under an excellent hawk flight which included Broad-winged Hawks and Black Vultures apparently streaming out of a thermal, up quite high (with harriers and others), headed due south.

It's going to be calm tonight, and clear, and in the 50's, and a near-full moon, which has me thinking about nocturnal migrants, including herons and even owls like Long-eared and Saw-whet, though it's too early for that kind of thinking. Late October with these conditions would be prime to look and listen for owls against the moon or the dawn sky. We've also had a several day stretch of decent migration weather now, so the migrant well may a little low for tomorrow. Only one way to find out. . .

Winds will be from the south the next couple days, but it looks like a cold front will pass Saturday night, so Sunday-Monday could bring interesting migrant volume.


[Merlin feeding on the wing, a common sight from the platform. Photo by Scott Whittle.]

[View from the Higbee dike. Photo by Scott Whittle.]