Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Warbler migration still going strong

While working from home today I could not help but pay some visits to the backyard and check for migrants along the forest edge. The cool fall weather and NW winds brought quite a few birds into our neighborhood and by the end of the day I had tallied 5 warbler species (12 Yellow-rumped, 4 Palm, 3 Magnolia, 2 Black-throated Green, and 1 Blackpoll Warbler), Red-eyed Vireo, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatch, several Blue Jays, 2 Downy Woodpeckers and a Northern Flicker.

First-year female Black-throated Green Warbler:
 Male Downy Woodpecker:
 First-year female Blackpoll Warbler:
 Eastern (yellow) Palm Warbler:
 First-year Male Magnolia Warbler:
 Red-eyed Vireo:
 Ruby-crowned Kinglet:
 One of a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers (first-year male):
The arrival of the hoards of Yellow-rumped Warblers typically signals the end of warbler migration. They will be highly missed until their return in spring!

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