I basically was taking it easy this morning. I “slept in” until sunrise (6:22am) instead of getting to Sandy Point or elsewhere for sunrise. Instead of checking out the morning flight there, I sampled the morning flight over and through the yard. As expected on a cool morning after a clear, calm night, there were definitely birds around and overhead, and a lot of birds were in the air again last night.

Here’s the Midnight radar, for example:

After a spell in the yard (a smattering of warblers and two continuing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, including one with a deformed bill), I took Sasha for a walk at Old Townhouse Park in North Yarmouth. This is a park that looks really good to me, but I’m often amazed by how few birds there are here, even on good migration days. And, other than the Swallow-tailed Kite that I saw from here this summer, I haven’t encountered anything “good” (but the Kite was really, really good!) here.

Today’s visit certainly changed that impression, however! Not only were there birds around, but there was one really good bird! I totaled 10 species of warblers and 5 species of sparrows, plus two Indigo Buntings. I had 3 “First-of-fall” sightings: 1 “Yellow” Palm Warbler, 3 Lincoln’s Sparrow, and 1 White-crowned Sparrow.

While pishing at a small group of sparrows in the swale between the Lower Field Loop and the River Loop, I was absolutely shocked when A SEDGE WREN pops into view! Not only is this a really good bird, but it’s the first that I have seen in Maine!

Completing the walk, I headed back home, changed, snacked, and grabbed my camera and headed back to the park to score these shots through my binoculars. Happily, I found the bird in the same patch of sedges (appropriately enough) within a minute. Not the sharpest photos in the world, but they do the job.

Here’s the morning’s list:

Location: Old Townhouse Park
Observation date: 9/17/07
Number of species: 35

Mourning Dove 6
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Sedge Wren 1 Pished out of swale between Lower Field Loop and
River Loop at 7:45am. Observed for 5 minutes. Returned at 9:15,
refinding bird in same location within a minute, and photographed it.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 4
Cedar Waxwing 30
Northern Parula 3
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 2
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 7
Wilson's Warbler 1
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 20
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Indigo Bunting 2
Purple Finch 9
American Goldfinch 12

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)