A very short morning in Rock Creek Park today. The gray, humid morning seemed to signal the conclusion of migration. Very little bird song - mostly resident species, only a handful of migrants - notably Wood Thrush, Peewee, and Acadian.

We had a wonderful if weird treat, though. When we pulled into the parking area, we saw a small bird sitting on the side mirror of another vehicle. It was a Northern Parula, flitting at the mirror to fight his own image. We watched him as he went from car to car, including ours, fighting off this flock of Parulas! 

You know it is time for migration to end when you look forward to a day of rain! This was the first year in many when I was able to get out birding several days each week, and I was downright miffed when we had all that rain a couple of weeks ago. But now, I am looking forward to sleeping past 5 a.m. 

Ellen Paul
Tim Boucher

PS - HI WENDY!!!!