Virtually nothing moved overnight Wednesday into Thursday, according to the radar. A quick walk around Old Townhouse Park Thursday morning did produced a small number of various sparrows. Unfortunately, the fields have been mowed – except for the farthest field along the river – which has significantly reduced the sparrow-rific habitat here.

After near-record high temperatures on southerly winds yesterday, clear and calm conditions overnight allowed migrants to proceed unimpeded. And, after 3 days of little migration, birds were really on the move.
10pm base reflectivity image:

10pm velocity image (see the NNE to SSW flow of birds):

12am:

2am:

There was an occasional, and very light, northwesterly puff of wind at times, so I headed over for a sunrise at Sandy Point, just to see if it was enough to push some birds over the bay. Apparently, it was not, as very little was overhead or in the bushes.

Taking a look at the 6:00 radar images, we can see birds were still in the air . . .

But looking at the velocity image, they seemed to be moving east to west, reorienting inland – before dawn, and before I could see them at Sandy Point. Basically, I think the wind was so light – or nonexistent – that birds easily made the turn to inland cover as twilight approached.

Therefore, here’s the minimal Sandy Point tally:
Location: Sandy Point Beach, Cousin's Island, Yarmouth
Observation date: 10/5/07
Notes: Clear and calm overnight and in the morning, with a few
puffs from the NW at dawn and occasionally during the overnight.
Number of species: 34

American Black Duck X
Common Eider X
Common Loon 2
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Peregrine Falcon 1
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Downy Woodpecker X
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird X
European Starling X
American Pipit 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 15
Dark-eyed Junco 5
Rusty Blackbird 1
American Goldfinch X
passerine sp. 7

Next, it was another visit to the Eastern Promenade as it’s prime time on the Prom and the habitat is simply sparrow-ific at the moment. Very good numbers of 8 species of sparrows were present, led by large numbers of White-throated and Song Sparrows. A singing Carolina Wren was a treat, 30 Greater Yellowlegs were roosting at their usual spot near the sewage treatment plant, and 224 Semipalmated Sandpipers were again roosting on the rocks (although the roost has now shifted to near Fish Point.

Here’s the count:
Location: Eastern Promenade
Observation date: 10/5/07
Number of species: 36

American Black Duck X
Common Eider X
Great Blue Heron 1
Semipalmated Plover 1
Greater Yellowlegs 30
Semipalmated Sandpiper 224
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9
Empidonax sp. 1 Today's "bird that got away."
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Carolina Wren 1
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling X
American Pipit 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Chipping Sparrow 14
Savannah Sparrow 29
Song Sparrow 130
Swamp Sparrow 21
White-throated Sparrow 249
White-crowned Sparrow 11
Dark-eyed Junco 6
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X

Finally, I checked in at a few weedy East End lots – the best of which, on Sheridan St is now mostly developed, downtown hedges, and the First Parish Church garden on Congress St. Other than a fair number of White-throated Sparrows (40+) and a few other things, including a Brown Thrasher at the Sheridan St lot, I didn’t have a whole lot to share.

So, with another day of SW winds and near record-high temperatures on slate for today, I for one, am looking forward to this weekend’s cool-down. Personally, I love NORMAL October weather – chilly mornings, dry air, and a still-warming sun.

Although siphoning in unseasonable heat and humidity, a persistent southerly flow – as we have had of late – at this time of year can lead to some excellent vagrants. Reports of a Fork-tailed Flycatcher and a potential first state record Gray Kingbird Downeast recently, our Summer Tanager on Monhegan, a Red-headed Woodpecker on Monhegan the day after we left, and other treats may in fact be due to this weather phenomena. So, I guess as my cold symptoms finally abate, I am beginning to experience the symptoms of RARITY FEVER!