Hi Everybody,

Yesterday was a golden autumnal day; one of those days wherein you can be in winter in the shade early in the morning and summer in full sun in the afternoon. Turkey Point was not as consistently amazing as it is capable of being yesterday, but it's never dull for long. 

There was a consistent, if not overwhelming, raptor flight, providing several nice looks at Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks and a too fleeting view of a tiercel PEREGRINE FALCON heading south from the Point itself when we visited the lighthouse. The big show was provided by a strong Blue Jay flight - I tried to be conservative in counting the jays and I still managed a total in excess of *510* streaming down the point and milling about at the south end. 

Songbirds were just about done heading north off the Point when we arrived - thanks in part to our having to follow a soybean harvester on Old Elk Neck Road on the way to the park - although we did manage to find a Golden-crowned Kinglet, a Brown Creeper, 8 Red-eyed Vireos, two Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and five warbler species for the day. 

It was also a good butterfly day as we had at least ten species including many migrating monarchs and a great many variegated fritillaries which also appeared to be showing migratory behavior. The fritillaries were often seen flying high in the air, and were most numerous in the lawn arond the lighthouse. It was a nice day to out and thank you to the folks at the Cecil Bird Club's hawk watch in particular Leslie Fisher and Pat Valdata for company and sharp eyes to help spot the hawks, et al. 

Our complete list appears below (not counting birds seen coming and going to Chestertown):
10 Canada Geese; 4 Double-crested Cormorants; 1 Great Blue Heron; 5 Black Vultures; 
18 Turkey Vultures; 1 Osprey; 5 Bald Eagles; 26 Sharp-shinned Hawks; 9 Cooper's Hawks; 
2 Red-tailed Hawks; 1 Peregrine Falcon; 5 Ring-billed Gulls; 2 Great Black-backed Gulls; 1 Caspian Tern; 9 Chimney Swifts; 5 Red-bellied Woodpeckers; 4 Downy Woodpeckers; 
1 Hairy Woodpecker; 3 Northern Flickers; 1 Pileated Woodpecker; 8 Red-eyed Vireos; 
515 Blue Jays; 3 American Crows; 3 Tree Swallows; 5 Carolina Chickadees; 3 Tufted Titmice; 
3 Red-breasted Nuthatches; 2 White-breasted Nuthatches; 1 Brown Creeper; 
3 Carolina Wrens; 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet; 1 Blue-gray Gnatchatcher; 4 Gray Catbirds; 
1 Northern Mockingbird; 10 Cedar Waxwings; 4 Northern Parulas; 1 Magnolia Warbler; 
2 Black-throated Blue Warblers; 2 Black-throated Green Warblers; 2 Black-and-white Warblers; 1 Eastern Towhee; 5 Northern Cardinals; 2 American Goldfinches.

Good Birding,

Walter Ellison

23460 Clarissa Road
Chestertown, MD 21620
phone: 410-778-9568
e-mail: 

"A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. White (in "Stuart Little")

"Are there *ever* enough birds?" - Connie Hagar as quoted by Edwin Way Teale in "Wandering through Winter"