Re: A Hot Spot for Oporornis Warblers
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Wed, 09 Sep 98 11:25:12 EDT
I'm not sure whether folks are skeptical of Mike's Oporornis reports because
they think that these species are rare on migration here. I don't think they
are that rare, they are just rarely seen and reported.
The area I (and many others) watch in Rock Creek Park, DC, is famous for
Oporornis warblers, that is, Connecticut and Mourning. Some days have had
multiple reports, e.g. one September day about four years ago my husband Barry
had two Connecticuts chasing eachother through the little weedy patch in
picnic area 17. The "dog field" is also reliable for Connecticuts.
However, it seems that in the last year or so the frequency of reports is
down a bit, possible (in part) due to the replacement of the seemingly
favored Giant Ragweed-dominated scrub with higher bushes and brambles. The
Gaint Ragweed (a hay-fever sufferer's nightmare, a Connecticut Warbler's
dream habitat) has virtually disappeared. The Mournings seemed to favor the
area around picnic site 17, esp. the weed patch. This year the only report
has been from the (new) little pond next to the Nature Center, under
fruiting Devil's Walking-stick (which attracts warblers of all sorts).
I recall a Birdchatter from NC who did a lot of banding say that patches
of weeds dominated by Jewelweed (Touch-me-Not) was also good for Connecticuts,
he once trapped five in a morning. A bander who read the post re-set his nets
in a jewelweed patch and got two Connecticuts the very next day!
So advice -- take your Sudafed and look for Giant Ragweed and/or Jewelweed
and maybe you'll be lucky.
Gail Mackiernan
gail@umdd.umd.edu