It's the beginning of the end! 2 MYRTLE WARBLERS at Lake Herrick, and 2 more outside the ecology building on campus this morning. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was a new backyard bird too.

Other highlights from Lake Herrick: A 10-warbler day, including my FOTS MYRTLE WARBLERS, an early PINE SISKIN and 2 SWALLOW species (NRW and BARN). Misidentification of the morning was trying to turn tailless baby Barn Swallows into Cliffs (or worse)!


eBird report below

Location: Lake Herrick
Observation date: 10/15/09
Number of species: 44

Mallard 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Killdeer 8
Mourning Dove 3
Chimney Swift 400
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 4
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 10
Tufted Titmouse 7
Brown-headed Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 4
Swainson's Thrush 1
American Robin 10
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 4
European Starling 18
Tennessee Warbler 9
Northern Parula 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 2
Palm Warbler (Western) 4
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
American Redstart 2
Eastern Towhee 5
Song Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 8
Common Grackle 2
House Finch 3
Pine Siskin 1
American Goldfinch 12

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Is it unusual to see large numbers of chimney swifts now? About 10am hundreds circling and some entering a chimney near Boulevard/Chase interection. Awesome sight at any rate.

Richard Hall just called to report two PHALAROPE spp. (either Red-necked or Red) near the beach at Lake Herrick (see his message from yesterday for directions). He's trying to get photos and a better look, and I'm headed over right now.

Good day outside my window. We are getting invaded here. Cedar waxwings are scouring the bunch berries, pine warblers are staring into the house, wrens are hopping about, and a fly catcher is sitting twelve feet from me. All of this going on at once.

Sorry to report that the Phalaropes disappear. The terrible photos look better for Red-necked than Red; will post shortly.

Horrible phalarope photos posted here:
http://surfbirds.com/blog/rjhall/12397/

Cross-posted to GABO-l

Hi all,
a beautiful sunny early morning walk at Lake Herrick produced a PEREGRINE, plus my FOTS WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS and 10 warbler species. Silhouetted photos of the Peregrine will be posted on my blog in due course. Incidentally, I'm now convinced that yesterday's phalaropes were RED. Exciting times!
Cheers
Richard

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: 2009/10/16
Subject: eBird Report - Lake Herrick , 10/16/09
To: dr.richard.hall@gmail.com




Location: Lake Herrick
Observation date: 10/16/09
Notes: Peregrine flew through at 840am, scattering Killdeer. Photos available on request and will be posted at www.surfbirds.com/blog/rjhall
Number of species: 43

Canada Goose 46
Mallard 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Killdeer 7
Rock Pigeon 15
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
Eastern Phoebe 7
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 9
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 5
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 4
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 4
European Starling 2
Tennessee Warbler 3
Northern Parula 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler (Western) 1
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Song Sparrow 9
White-throated Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 8
Common Grackle 3
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Mitchell Jarrett, Darlene Moore, and I birded the botanical garden this morning without a Phalarope or Peregrine in sight. I think I need to borrow whatever horseshoe Richard has been carrying this week, as it was pretty uneventful (not a single ebird-flaggable bird). We did get the first GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET of the fall, as well as setting a new late date for NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at the botanical garden by almost 2 weeks. The trails, especially the orange trail along the river, were VERY muddy (and slippery) in spots with new sand and silt deposits from the flooding. Some highlights excerpted from our ebird report are below:

Wood Duck 4
Green Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1 (flyby on South Milledge)
Killdeer 1 (flyover)
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 8
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown-headed Nuthatch 5
House Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 7
Indigo Bunting 5

Warblers:
Tennessee Warbler 8
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 3
Palm Warbler (Western) 4
American Redstart 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Hooded Warbler 2

While standing drenched and shivering at Lake Herrick this morning with only 4 WOOD DUCK for my efforts, I thought my lucky streak was over. Then I got home to find a male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER in the yard (yard warbler no 16 for the year!). Definitely a good day for working on the yard list :-)

(cross-posted to GABO-l)

I popped into the botanical gardens this afternoon, and around 2:40pm was treated to a continuous stream of migrating TURKEY VULTURES from the north end of the river section of the White Trail. Over the next 20 mins, I estimated 630 birds flew over, heading SE. Soon after I was joined by Joel McNeal, and over the next couple hours we saw several large-sized groups. We conservatively estimated 1500 birds (including my earlier sightings) passed over in 2 hours! A few COOPER'S and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, plus 1 small falcon sp, and tens of BLACK VULTURES were also seen.

I'll upload photos of oodles of Turkey Vultures, plus the earlier Nashville Warbler and Forster's Terns at Bear Creek onto my blog this evening (www.surfbirds.com/blog/rjhall)

(cross-posted to GABO-l)

James Neves and I had our FOTS SWAMP SPARROWS (2) at the beaverpond wetland along the Orange Trail at the State Botanical Garden this morning. WHITE-THROATED and SONG SPARROW numbers were up, and MYRTLE WARBLERS and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS a further sign of impending winter. At Lake Herrick I recorded 9 TREE SWALLOWS and a female BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.

I had my FOTS American Woodcock fly over my car in Comer around 11PM last night. I'm not sure if it's a migrant or one of the residents (they do breed there, I was surprised to find out), but it was a pleasant sight none-the-less.

This morning I found a NASHVILLE WARBLER at Lake Herrick. Surreally, I was just phoning James Neves about the bird when his car rolled up in front of me! After a nervous 10 minutes the bird reappeared for him to see also. The bird was in the vicinity of the white 'information' hut, which is at the corner of the field directly behind the parking deck. Also there I had my FOTS CEDAR WAXWINGS (7), and a couple of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS.

In a brief swing by Herrick on the way home I didn't re-find the Nashville but did see my FOTS BLUE-HEADED VIREO.

Many of you will be amused to know that the masthead of this week's "Flagpole" says, 'Colorbearer of Athens Mourning All the Chimney Swifts'. So I guess they're gone......

(cross-posted to GABO-l)

A quick stroll around Lake Herrick produced my first 'chups' of a HERMIT THRUSH for the fall. BLACKBURNIAN was the most interesting warbler of the morning, while MYRTLE numbers continue to swell.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: 2009/10/21
Subject: eBird Report - Lake Herrick , 10/21/09
To: dr.richard.hall@gmail.com




Location: Lake Herrick
Observation date: 10/21/09
Number of species: 34

Mallard 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Killdeer 6
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 7
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 7
Fish Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 7
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 4
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 11
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 15
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler (Western) 6
Eastern Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 8
Common Grackle 1
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)