This morning I was reading the paper at 7:45 when I caught a flash of yellow
zip by the window. Before I could stand up there was an uproar from the
local titmice. The maple tree next to our Sunroom was alive with activity.
There were at least 50 birds flitting in that one tree and more were
dropping out of the sky.
It was very foggy and I struggled to identify as many as I could. In all I
IDed 9 migrants (10 if you count the Rubythroat that joined in the fray
because it was her tree and 8 residents).
Migrants: Pewee, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler,
Black-throated Green Warbler, Redstart, Worm-eating Warbler, Common
Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager
Residents: Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee,
Titmouse, WB Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Cedar Waxwing, Goldfinch
It lasted 15-20 minutes and then they began to disperse. It was interesting
to watch the interactions. The chickadees, nuthatch and titmice definitely
scolding the intruders. The other locals seemed to be just concerned they
might miss something if they didn't show and moved about feeding with no
obvious interaction with the other birds. If the migrants were exhausted
from their long flight, you would never have known as they flitted about
constantly making it very difficult to catch up to one to identify it. I was
left feeling awed by the spectacle and wondering how many of the birds I
had missed.
Peggy Opengari, Giles County
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
