Posted by Bryant Roberts on September 30, 2001 at 20:40:50:
really wasn't planning to do much, if any birding today, what with
forecast for rain, wind, and more rain. I slept a little late and was was
catching up on some reading when I took a look out my door at about 8:30
to see how hard it was raining (heavy drizzle) when a flash of yellow in a
nearby Buttonwood caught my eye. After a quick scramble for my eyeglasses
and binoculars I saw my first Blackburnian Warbler this fall, it was
probably an immature male, bright yellow and clearly marked. A few
minutes of looking around turned up an American Redstart and then a Yellow
Warbler in some nearby trees. I started my work shift late in the
morning, the drizzle gradually diminished, then ended at around 11:30.
Nothing much was happening in the way of birds except for a mixed flock of
White Ibis and other waders feeding in the now flooded grassy area north
of the marina, a few small flocks of Eastern Kingbirds, and small
scattered flocks of Barn Swallows moving eastward. Early in the afternoon
things began to pick up when five Magnificent Frigatebirds soared over,
also moving east, these have been surprisingly scarce here this summer.
While working I was able to spot four Merlins flying eastward between 1:30
and 2:45, one unsuccessfully trying to chase down a warbler over the
marina parking lot. A little while later two Peregrines circled over, one
making a spectacular, but apparently unsuccessfull pass at a small
shorebird over Buttonwood Canal, it pulled out of it's stoop and banked to
pass about fifty feet over where I was standing. My shift ended at at six
and went over to see if anything interesting was with the waders in the
flooded field. This produced my first Pectoral Sandpiper this fall, it
was with four Lesser Yellowlegs, seven Least Sandpipers, and two Western
Sandpipers. After returning to my room, getting into dry clothes and
enjoying a cool drink with my feet up, I poked my head out the door just
before sunset to see if the sky was clearing enough for a good movement of
migrants tonight, which it was. A flash of yellow caught my eye in the
nearby Buttonwood. After another scramble for my binoculars I saw a
couple of Yellow Warblers, then another warbler hopped into view. This
turned out to be my second Blackburnian Warbler of the day, a bit duller
with not so much of a crown streak as the one in the same tree this
morning. Just a as I was starting to go inside a flock of about a hundred
Snowy Egrets passed close overhead on their way to their island roosts in
Florida Bay. This seemed like a fine way to finish the day but there was
one more twilight treat, while doing a quick outside errand I spotted a
goatsucker, probably a "Chuck", doing aerobatics along a nearby treeline.
Not to bad for a non-birding day.