This is my first fall of real birding, and I have a question. I have seen
two WaterThrush in the past week, 8/6 and 8/7. One was seen on the shore of
a lake (Lake Maury), the other along the brushy shore of a slow-moving tidal
creek off of the brackish James River near Newport News. I identified them
both as Northern Waterthrush, based on habitat as well as field marks.
Although the birds were whitish below, the eyebrow was buffy/yellow-not the
bright white of the Louisiana. Also, the breast streaking was dense and was
present on the throat. My question is whether this identification is
reasonable for the beginning of August, or is it still too early for this
bird to be in the region in such force? The creek is not far from Lake
Maury, so I guess I could have coincidentally seen the same early migrant
twice. If a more-experienced birder could lay some knowledge down about the
typical fall migration habits/dates of this species, perhaps I would know
whether to have confidence in this sighting or second-guess it. Thanks!
Nick
Flanders.
Newport News.
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