A yard bird I never thought I'd get, a Louisiana Waterthrush dropped into the
dying oak tree in the front yard this morning, bobbing around for about a
minute before jetting back off to the south. This was yard bird #255.
Warblers, all unidentified, were seen flying southward high overhead along the
Bay
front this morning, probably 60 in all. Jethro Runco began banding at
Kiptopeke
yesterday and caught 2 migrants; I'm sure this morning was good there! He
will post his birds as soon as he has telephone/internet access on the refuge.
Louisiana Waterthrushes are early migrants (July/August) compared to many
other Neotropical migrants, and I rarely see them on migration and rarely hear
about others seeing them. I have seen one or two 'fall' migrants on the
Eastern Shore before, one at Buxton, NC, and one in interior Mexico. I think
they're seen regularly at Cape May, though, in early morning overhead flights
at
Higbee Beach (and distinguished from Northerns by the heavier bill).
Locally, there are a few flooded fields after a heavy rain, so it may be
worth checking for shorebirds if folks are out birding the Shore this week.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles
