Hola Birders,
Yesterday, (10/22/05) was a specious day for the platform. A young *Golden
Eagle* was the first surprise of the day. This bird circled in then headed
back north. The next and possibly more surprising sighting was that of a
hatching year *Northern Goshawk*. This bird was first spied cruising south
distantly and was listed as hypothetical...that is until our banders caught
it!
In addition to some very interesting hawk flights many migrants have been
flying over and using the nearby shrubbery. The 21st produced a "lawn full"
with *Palm Warblers* along with several thousand Yellow-rumps. A large
thrush movement was heard early in the morning as well. Sparrow numbers went
way up with the addition of many *White-throats*, single *White-crowns* and
*Lincolns* were hanging around too.
Yesterday produced a more diverse Warbler flight as around 5 or 6 species
were recorded around the platform. Also our first *American Robin* flights
really took off with several thousand being counted. Winter finches returned
yesterday as well with decent numbers of *Purple* and a *Siskin* or two
flying over the Platform.
Around the shore the birding has been great. Sparrows and Yellow-rumps are
thick everywhere. The Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR is jumping and
held a *Clay-colored
S*parrow near the visitors center on the 21st, found by a visiting couple.
Also near Exmore on a plot for a William and Mary research project one
observer conservatively estimated 90 each of *Winter Wren* and *Hermit
Thrush*. That's a whole lot!
-Sam
--
cell: 610.306.2027
