Sightings 10/18/18

Say’s Phoebe & American Avocet.

Yellow-throated Warbler & Harris’s Sparrow.

Townsend’s Solitaire.

Highlights:
Say’s Phoebe, American Avocet, Yellow-throated Warbler,
Harris’s Sparrow and Townsend’s Solitaire.

October is often a great time for vagrants at WPBO, and it has been exciting in that regard recently. A Say’s Phoebe and an American Avocet were seen on the 11th. On the 13th we had Yellow-throated Warbler, Harris’s Sparrow and Townsend’s Solitaire. The Solitaire was only heard on the 13th, but was seen on the 14th. The Harris’s Sparrow made its way to the feeders on the 14th, where it remained through the 16th.

Some of the northern species that are of interest to visiting birders have also begun to arrive. Bohemian Waxwings are starting to be seen on a daily basis, the second Northern Shrike of the season was seen today and few Evening Grosbeaks have begun to trickle through. The first Black-backed Woodpecker of the season was seen yesterday. Red Crossbill numbers are starting to increase, and as has been the case since last fall, many are western “types”. Matt Young, Cornell’s Red Crossbill expert, has been amazingly helpful in analyzing the recordings I’ve made and identifying them to their type. Most of the ones recorded in the last few days have been type 2 “Ponderosa Pine”, with some of the expected type 10 mixed in.

Overall all activity has naturally varied from day to day, but it has been a good period for general migration recently. In addition to the Yellow-rumped, Palm and occasional Orange-crowned Warblers, we are still seeing a few other lingering species of warblers, with recent sightings of Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Cape May and Common Yellowthroat. The chickadee flock is increasing and good numbers of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets are joining the flock. There are also good numbers of Brown Creepers and Winter Wrens most days. Most sparrow species appear to be winding down, but there are still White-crowned, White-throated, Lincoln’s, Swamp, Savanah and Fox being seen most days, and a Clay-colored has been present the last few days. As a late season migrant, as far as sparrows are concerned, American Tree Sparrow numbers are increasing. There’s naturally much more going on at the Point, including some nice waterbird flights recently, you can check ebird and dunkadoo for more detailed information on the daily activity.