Saturday, September 17, 2011

I Can't Remember Seeing This Many Birds

In one day that is!  Granted, it wasn't like yesterday where the warblers where dripping from the trees and running around at my feet like that Black-throated Green Warbler.  But . . . there were multitudes of birds today - all flying NORTH across Higbees Beach fields.  Birds were streaming by 2, 3, and sometimes dozens at a time. 

We showed up at 6:45 and noticed dozens of birders standing in the first fields all looking up, but without binoculars.  They were just standing there looking.  Weird.  When we got into the field, we understood what was going on.  Birds were flying past in numbers that I have never seen.  All flying NORTH.  Not really landing in trees for more than a second or two, if at all.  It was something to witness.  Something to talk about later.  But not really something to use binoculars for.

There were alot of Parulas, Redstarts and Red-eyed Vireos. Our first Palm warblers of the season came through today (Mom - get ready to see them at your house soon). We also got to see a few Tennessee Warblers and even got to see a Tennessee sitting next to a Nashville (get it) in the same tree.  Barbara and Diane got to see a Wilson's warbler - I missed it.  We all got a good look at a Black-billed Cuckoo. I got terrible photos of it which are not worth including in this post. 

Speaking of photos - notice that there aren't any photos to go along with the words in this post.  That is because it was impossible for me to get photos of this spectacle with my camera and lens setup. 

It was pretty awesome to witness.  We departed at 9 AM because we had work to do - tear the siding off of the green house in preparation for new roof, siding and windows coming in the next few weeks.  Rain set it after we were done with our chore, so no more birding for the day.  Hopefully tomorrow will also bring lots of birds and better photographic opportunities. 

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