Less Common Yellowthroats
What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, October 1, changed both the calendar and the composition of life as nocturnal migration slammed a lot of areas in the lower Northeast and Mid-Atlantic with some of those really autumnal avian sightings. I had my first of fall White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos along with dozens of Eastern Phoebes. I also picked up a Lincoln’s Sparrow to start off the most sparrow month of the year. Warblers are starting to thin out and turn over to later migrating species, and the now less Common Yellowthroats like this one are becoming a bit more...
Read MorePine Warbler
This Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) was enjoying foraging in White Pine (Pinus strobus) trees in the early morning light today, the first of many warbler species to arrive in the coming weeks. Now is the time to break out your Peterson Field Guide warbler plates and study songs as well. This male was singing intermittently, more focused on eating than advertising. Their song resembles that of the Chipping Sparrow, or even the Dark-eyed Junco, but it is a little more deliberate and slower trill. In my opinion the best way to learn a song is to literally watch a bird singing it as much as you...
Read MoreSwath of sparrows
This swath of sparrows was below our feeders at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History here in Jamestown, New York. Can you identify all four species? From left to right we have the White-throated Sparrow, a Song Sparrow in front of a Fox Sparrow, and a Dark-eyed Junco. Yep, there is also another hidden White-throated Sparrow! There will be a bunch of busy feeders with hungry birds in the Northeast this Thanksgiving after a Nor’easter dumped a mix of rain, sleet and snow on the Mid-Atlantic and New England, leaving some with snowy holiday morning. Happy...
Read MoreThe grass is always greener
I like to think that this Dark-eyed Junco, alone with its thoughts, is pondering whether or not, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” In this case the answer should be a resounding “Yes!” shouldn’t it? Or maybe not because it is green on all sides, even in November…until it is encased in snow and ice. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreExtremely abundant common sparrows
This Dark-eyed Junco can be seen chowing down on a seed while nearly 200 more of its friends were doing the same nearby. I cannot recall a time where I have seen a greater sustained abundance, perhaps for the last three or four weeks, of a few common sparrow species spread across the region. There have been huge flocks of Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-throated Sparrows seemingly everywhere in appropriate habitat. Have you noticed the same? Maybe they had a very productive nesting year and perhaps they are also irrupting due to a lack of food in the north. Thankfully there is no...
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