I regret to have missed this. I hope one day to witness a truly massive
fallout, as observed and reported on Friday in NJ and perhaps in D.C., and
at other times referred to down in coastal MS or LA. I can't imagine
seeing 10,000+ warblers in an hour, let alone in one place or even one
day, but I would count that as one of the most important natural events to
see in my life, and hope someday I'll be in the right place at the right
time.
I did go out looking briefly for either a gray-cheeked thrush or winter
wren near my home Friday morning, which I have so far been unable to find
this year. I was unsuccessful but did get to see and hear my first hermit
thrushes of this Fall, and also was lucky to hear a Swainson's thrush
singing nearby. It was overcast and drizzling, but the thrushes seemed
quite active.
The rest of the fall migrants seemed to be completely normal in terms of
their numbers (no noticable increase). Lots of kinglets (both), yellow-
rumps and a few palm warblers, and the usual dose of sparrows, except it
did seem like a lot of towhees were present. We still have a lot of
migrant blue jays lingering around here.
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD |