What a day for witnessing migration! From warblers and sparrows to hawks and eagles, things were really on the move. I began the day just as the sun rose at Sandy Point Beach on Cousin’s Island in Yarmouth.

It was a classic late September passerine flight, with more sparrows and kinglets than warblers. A very roughly estimated 700-800 birds passed over and through Sandy Point between 6:25 and 7:45am. At least 75-100 of them were Northern Flickers! Of the smaller birds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, and Blackpoll Warblers led the way.

The cumulative total for all birders present was 17 species of warblers (I missed the Blackburnian, Tennessees, and a very rare Yellow-breasted Chat myself). A Red-bellied Woodpecker flew over among the Flickers, a Lincoln’s Sparrow was in the bushes, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird buzzed through, and 8 Rusty Blackbirds flew overhead.

At 7:45, I hurried back to the store, to meet my group for our 8:00 birdwalk. Every Saturday, all year long, we offer a FREE birdwalk. We meet at the store, and then carpool to a local park. I consider the size and experience of the group, the weather, tides, season, etc – and I take requests – so I never know where I am going until the group arrives and we chat for a few minutes. (Shameless plug #1: See Bird News page of Yarmouthbirds.com for more info. Here, I post the sightings from each Saturday’s outing, so you can see two months worth of trips at any one time. Come join us!).

This morning, however, I knew immediately we would be returning right back to Sandy Point. So we did. And, we were not disappointed.

By 8:15, activity had certainly diminished a bit, but we still had plenty of warblers moving over and through. Today’s group (of 8) enjoyed about 10 species of warblers, including 3 different Bay-breasted Warblers, great looks at three immature Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers together on a Paper Birch trunk, three newly arrived White-crowned Sparrow, and both a Bald Eagle and a Peregrine Falcon, along with a few Sharp-shinned Hawks, overhead.

My estimates for the morning – both before and during the birdwalk.
Northern Flicker: 75-100
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 20% of flight.
White-throated Sparrow: 15% of flight.
Dark-eyed Junco: 15% of flight.
Yellow-rumped Warbler: 10% of flight.
Blackpoll Warbler: 5+% of flight.
Red-eyed Vireo: 5% of flight.
Northern Parula: <5% of flight.
Golden-crowned Kinglet: 15+
Black-throated Green Warbler: 10-15
Magnolia Warbler: 10-15
Blue-headed Vireo: 10+
“Western” Palm Warbler: 10+
Black-throated Blue Warbler: 10+
Scarlet Tanager: 10+
Rusty Blackbird: 8
Eastern Phoebe: 6+
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 5+
Nashville Warbler: 5+
Swamp Sparrow: 4+
Chestnut-sided Warbler: 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: 3
Yellow Warbler: 3
Bay-breasted Warbler: 3
White-crowned Sparrow: 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: 3
Swainson’s Thrush: 2
Black-and-white Warbler: 2
Wilson’s Warbler: 2
Bald Eagle: 1
American Kestrel: 1
Merlin: 1
Peregrine Falcon: 1
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: 1
Least Flycatcher: 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow: 1
Chipping Sparrow: 1
Indigo Bunting: 1
Baltimore Oriole: 1

With the moderate north wind, and the amount of raptors buzzing around Sandy Point, I had high hopes for the daily hawkwatch from the store (Shameless Plug #2: Jeannette and I count hawks overhead at the store from 10-11 each morning from mid-September through mid-October right out our store’s front door. We also post our daily hawkwatch numbers on the Bird News page of Yarmouthbirds.com). When we pulled into the parking lot, Jeannette announced that she had a kettle (soaring flock) of Broad-winged Hawks high overhead. In the next two hours, we tallied a very impressive 401 raptors! Broad-winged Hawks (the only raptor in New England that travels in true flocks) led the way, including a kettle of 85 individuals. A real treat was an unbelievable KETTLE OF BALD EAGLES: 8 Bald Eagles soared overhead at 11:40am! 96 Broad-winged Hawks riding a thermal (the rising column of warm air that soaring hawks use to gain altitude) at 11:55 were so high that I could not even see them in binoculars – a spotting scope trained directly overhead on one of the eagles provided these birds. We counted until 12:15, tallying a few more birds, but knowing that most of the raptors, especially Broad-wings would be so high we could never see them.

The totals for today’s Hawkwatch (401 total birds!):
Turkey Vulture: 2
Osprey: 4
Bald Eagle: 9!!!
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 4
Cooper’s Hawk: 2
Broad-winged Hawk: 377
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
American Kestrel: 1
Merlin: 1
Unidentified Raptor: 1

So, in other words – WHY ARE YOU READING THIS? GET OUTSIDE AND LOOK UP!

But, before you do, you should take a look at this story. While it was a great night and day for migration in this part of the country, it wasn’t a great time to be a migrant in Texas and Louisiana – again.