Dr. David Aborn
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May
6 , 2009
Dear
Students:
The word of the day is RAIN! The storm systems I talked about last
week moved slowly, bringing lots of rain to the eastern half of
the US for much of the week, with only a couple short breaks in
between.
That means, you guessed it, some more fallouts, but with an interesting
twist. Winds have had a strong easterly component. In other words,
they have been coming from the northeast or southeast, not just
straight north or south. This has pushed a lot of the migrants
that
winter in the Caribbean much farther west than usual. Normally,
most of these species are seen along the Eastern US from Florida
to New England, but this week Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama have
been seeing large numbers of them. Thus, in addition to the typical
late-season migrants that winter in Central and South America,
such as Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Chestnut-sided
Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Swainson's
Thrushes, and Olive-sided Flycatchers,
the Gulf coast states have been awash with Blackpoll
Warblers,
Cape May Warblers, and especially Bobolinks.
A bird count done this weekend at the Wheeler National Wildlife
Refuge in northern Alabama tallied 1,300 Bobolinks! While not nearly
that numerous, Bobolinks have been showing up all over Tennessee,
as have Blackpoll Warblers and Cape May Warblers. In fact, I banded
my first Tennessee Blackpoll Warbler yesterday, as shown below.
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Blackpoll Warbler
Photo David Aborn
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Bobolink
USFWS
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The
Midwest
There have been a few days where the weather has cleared, which
allowed migrants to creep their way north. In the Washington, DC
area, there was an influx of Hooded Warblers, Chestnut-sided
Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Magnolia
Warblers, Wood Thrushes, Orchard
Orioles, Baltimore Orioles, and over 40
Bobolinks. The Ohio Valley had a nice fallout the other day, with
Swainson's Thrushes, Gray-cheeked Thrushes,
Tennessee Warblers, American Redstarts,
Yellow Warblers, and Eastern Kingbirds.
Migration continued to pick up farther north, with Minnesota and
Michigan birders reporting the first Rose-breasted Grosbeaks,
Tennessee Warblers, Blackburnian Warblers,
Swainson's Thrushes, Indigo Buntings,
and Least Flycatchers. New England also did well, With
Massachusetts reporting Catbirds, Orioles,
and Buntings, while people in Maine had Veerys,
Blackburnian Warblers, Black-throated-green Warblers,
and Least Flycatchers.
Out
West
Out west, migration was a little more active than the past couple
of weeks. With southerly winds, people in Arizona saw a pulse of
Scott's Orioles, Bullock's Orioles,
Warbling Vireos, and 5 species of warblers. Birders in
southern and central California saw Nashville Warblers,
Orange-crowned Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, Bell's vireos, Western
Tanagers, and Olive-sided Flycatchers. Like in the east,
birds have been steadily getting farther and farther north. Western
Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Wilson's
Warblers have made it to Washington, while the first Black-chinned
Hummingbirds, Rufus Hummingbirds,
and Bullock's Orioles have shown up in Idaho. Our Canadian
friends are now starting to get in on the action, with Common
Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumped Warblers,
and Northern Rough-winged Swallows showing up in
Saskatchewan, and all the way up in Alaska Violet-green
Swallows, Cliff Swallows, and Yellow-rumped Warblers are
telling people spring is here.
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