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Observations from counter Daniel Irons

With early September upon us, peak warbler migration is in full swing at Turkey Point.

Eastern Kingbird © Daniel Irons

Since the beginning of the month there’s been a few solid cold fronts, plenty of favorable winds, and some good flights. Before we take a look at the first week in September, it’s worth looking back at a few notables from the last week of August.

The last week in August was mostly hot and humid with light winds primarily from the south. A few days with light north winds produced some sparse, diverse flights, and several new arrivals for the fall. August 24th was a perfect example of that with 13 species of warblers counted including the season’s first Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers.

Black-throated Blue Warbler © Daniel Irons

Additionally, two Yellow-rumped Warblers were noted. It is not usual for Yellow-rumps to move through until late September, but a small number of worn and molting adults trickle through starting in late August.

Yellow-rumped Warbler © Daniel Irons

It turns out Turkey Point isn’t just good for bird migration, but also dragonfly migration. The numbers of dragonflies flying by the Point picked up in late August and have continued into September. Both Wandering and Spot-winged Gliders are on the move along with Common Green Darners and Black Saddlebags. On August 27th there was a notable push of Spot-winged Gliders with 46 counted in a morning. To date, we’ve counted a total of 60 Spot-winged Gliders, 47 Wandering Gliders, 102 Common Green Darners, and 55 Black saddlebags.

Spot-winged Glider © Daniel Irons

Wandering Glider © Daniel Irons

Black Saddlebags © Daniel Irons

September kicked off with a strong cold front following the passage of tropical storm Ida. September 1st and 2nd were slow since it took a couple days for the rain and remnants of Ida to clear north of here. But once it did, the floodgates opened and we had a strong flight on the 3rd. Over 1,000 individuals of 63 species were counted in active migration, 18 of those species being warblers. 25 Tennessee Warblers, 73 Cape May Warblers, 13 Bay-breasted Warblers, and 28 Blackburnian Warblers were the notable counts for the morning.

Here is one of the 28 Blackburnian Warblers that zipped by the Point on September 3rd.

Blackburnian Warbler © Daniel Irons

The number of Cape May Warblers during this fall, in general, has been pretty impressive, especially for this early in the season. To date, we’ve counted 295 flying past Turkey Point.

Cape May Warbler © Daniel Irons

Bay-breasted Warblers also made their first showing of the fall at the Point on the 3rd.

Bay-breasted Warbler © Daniel Irons

The colder temps and northerly winds got some raptors moving in on the last week as well. Broad-winged Hawks, American Kestrels, and Merlins have all been making appearances at the Point.

Broad-winged Hawk © Daniel Irons

It’s looking like another great week coming up with cooler temps and some northerly winds. A good cold front is scheduled to pass through on Thursday, so Friday morning should be another strong flight at the Point.

Come Visit Us!

Daniel

Visit MBP's Turkey Point Bird Count project page for more information.

Observations from counter Daniel Irons - View updates on MBP's Special Projects' blog webiste!

It was a great two weeks at Turkey Point with several highlights and some solid flights.

Cape May Warbler © Daniel Irons

Temps are finally cooling down and leaves are starting to change; it’s really starting to feel like fall at the point. Several late-season species are arriving as well, this makes me look forward to what’s to come in October.

September 7th brought a nice diverse flight after a small cold front the previous evening. A fair push of Northern Parulas and American Redstarts was noted with 49 Parulas and 39 Redstarts counted. The highlight of the morning was the season’s first Connecticut Warbler.

Connecticut Warbler © Daniel Irons

The 8th also brought a fair diverse flight including our first Summer Tanager. The highlight of the morning was the season’s only Golden-winged Warbler.

Golden-winged Warbler © Daniel Irons

A strong cold front on the 9th sent temps into the 50s and set up a strong flight on the morning of September 10th. The stiff northwest winds brought in a strong push of Cape May Warblers. It was the most abundant species at the Point all morning. 273 Cape Mays were counted flying by the Point, a new high count for the state of MD. So far in the month of September, we’ve counted 711 Cape May Warblers bringing our season total to 813.

Cape May Warbler © Daniel Irons

The following day provided another good flight that included 45 Cape May Warblers and the second Olive-sided Flycatcher of the season.

Olive-sided Flycatcher © Daniel Irons

September 14th brought our first Red-breasted Nuthatch of the season. A total of 11 have been counted at the Point. This species will likely push south in small numbers this fall and winter, but nowhere near in the numbers they did last year.

Red-breasted Nuthatch © Daniel Irons

September 19th was another solid morning with a few notable counts of warblers and the season’s first Philadelphia Vireo. The first influx of Blackpoll Warblers was noted with 13 counted. Northern Parulas also showed well with 40 counted. Parula numbers have picked up in the last two weeks as we are now in the peak window for them moving south through our area. We’ve counted 504 Northern Parulas so far this season, 458 of those have been in September.

Northern Parula © Daniel Irons

We also saw a noticeable increase in Northern flickers on the 19th with 23 counted. Numbers of Flickers should pick up as we get closer to their peak flight season in early October.

Northern Flicker © Daniel Irons

Red-headed Woodpeckers are also currently moving through our area and Turkey Point is a great spot to see them in active migration. Since the first arrived at the point on Aug 31st, 36 have been counted.

Red-headed Woodpecker © Daniel Irons

The next couple weeks look promising with lots of northerly winds and a few strong cold fronts. With October just around the corner, many of the late-season migrants and some winter residents should be showing up.

Thanks for reading!

Daniel

Visit MBP's Turkey Point Bird Count project page for more information and view updates on MBP's Special Projects' blog website.