Just got a note from the NJ list that a Northern Wheatear was just reported
from Cape May. I wonder if it's the same bird.
Paul Pisano
Arlington, VA
On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 9:58 AM, Edward Boyd <edboyd59...> wrote:
> No sightings this morning. My guess is it was actively migrating yesterday
> and I was lucky to be in the right place at right time.
>
> Ed Boyd
> On Oct 8, 2012 1:35 PM, "Edward Boyd" <edboyd59...> wrote:
>
>> At about 12:45 I observed a smallish bird fly in towards the tower and
>> almost land on the plywood floor atop scaffolding that is place for some
>> window work being performed. Someone was walking past the window at the
>> time and I think that caused the bird to fly off before landing. It flew
>> and glided down and away from me to the east, briefly landing on the roof
>> of the D pier before flying off again and disappearing against the
>> background as it became too small to follow any longer.
>>
>> The bird immediately caught my eye because it had a generally clean buffy
>> color on it's undersides that was a little more intense on the chest that
>> didn't register with anything else. At first I thought it was going to be a
>> bluebird because of its size and shape. As it flew away from me I
>> immediately noticed the extensive white rump and inner edges of the outer
>> tail feathers and the black of the central retrices that joined the outer
>> half of all of the tail feathers in T pattern similar to a McCown's
>> Longspur. The back and head was a light grayish-brown color and the wings
>> appeared to be a bit darker as it flew and when it landed. On the roof it
>> was too far away to see clearly, even through our 7X binoculars, but there
>> was a distinct pattern to the head that showed light and dark areas in the
>> face.
>>
>> I concluded this to be a Northern Wheatear as I can think of no other
>> species with this pattern. This was a life bird.
>>
>> The sky was overcast which provided for even lighting. Winds were light
>> out of the east.
>>
>> Ed Boyd
>> Cestnut Hill Cove, MD
>>
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