Another good day at the Bird Trail yesterday.

Before arriving at Magee I stopped by the
flooded field along Benton-Carroll Rd. Water
levels had receded some 40% since Sat. ...
evaporation rates are high in the face of these
very strong winds. Shortly before 9am
I failed to locate the Black-necked Stilt but had
approx. 1600 shorebirds made up of 

Dunlin - 1450
Pectoral Sandpiper - 90
Lesser Yellowlegs - 37
Greater Yellowlegs - 32
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1

Arriving at the bird trail at 9:05, I was greeted
moments later by an adult Peregrine
zipping through at tree-top height. 

There was a modest diurnal passage overhead 
and I took this in for the next 30 minutes noting

Eastern Bluebird - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 2
Pine Siskin - 18
American Goldfinch - 113
Blue Jay - 79
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4
Cooper's hawk - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 11

The morning flight is sometimes referred
to as a re-orientation flight as birds consider the 
formidable barrier that Lake Erie poses to
their journey. This takes place from dawn for a
an hour or so and can involve very large 
numbers of warblers and sparrows. Some of the 
great numbers published from Magee owe much to
the inclusion of this flight which generally ends 
around 7:00 or well before the tourist birder arrives.

About 8:00 am the diurnals begin their passage of
which many should be familiar ... hoards of
goldfinches and Blue Jays with sprinklings
of siskins, etc. occasionally punctuated by a 
raptor. This flight has been better documented
with a number of observers sitting a watch here.

But getting a handle on the bird activity of the
Trail boardwalk is not an easy task. A good to
even modest morning can mean birds darting about
with the frenetic energy of a need to refuel in
the midst of the push-pull of human tidal forces.
This is when I, like most everyone else, use the
time to leisurely take in the scene qualitatively
... sampling the diversity ... get a picture or two
perhaps ... chase down the rumoured Kirtland's
Warbler that proves to be a Magnolia 99% of
the time ;-)  etc.

But by afternoon (after 2pm), the Trail often takes
on a different personality. Both Sat. and yesterday, 
I was especially reminded of this. Many of the people
have departed, the birds have settled down and 
while a few of these too have moved on, others have 
trickled in. It was under these conditions I opted 
to survey the trail in its entirety late in the day from
2pm to 6pm. From west entrance east another 
qualitative run with a quicker return counting. I
arrived at these numbers augmented in the case of
some uncommon species by other reliable
observers.

Passerines only.

House Wren - 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 17
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 7
Veery - 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 9 (personal April high for OH)
Swainson's Thrush - 47 (personal April high for OH)
Hermit Thrush - 5
Wood Thrush - 2
American Robin - 23
Gray Catbird - 11
Brown Thrasher - 1
Blue-winged Warbler - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 4
Nashville Warbler - 3
Northern Parula - 3
Yellow Warbler - 16
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 1
Magnolia Warbler - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 220
Black-throated Green Warbler - 9
Pine Warbler - 1
Prairie Warbler - 1 
Palm Warbler - 44
Black-and-white Warbler - 2
Prothonotary Warbler - 3
Ovenbird - 4
Northern Waterthrush - 4
Kentucky Warbler - 1 (missed by me but m.ob.)
Common Yellowthroat - 8
Hooded Warbler - 1 (missed by me)
Yellow-breasted Chat - 2
Chipping Sparrow - 5
Field Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 7
Swamp Sparrow - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 140
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 11
Purple Finch - 1
Pine Siskin - 2
American Goldfinch - 15

This is a intended as a representative sampling
and other observers may well have different 
results as a consequence of different effort.

The most notable non-passerine was a Merlin.

In addition to the warblers above, earlier Rick
Nirshl had a Blackpoll on the Trail (I had another
at the end of Howard Road near Reno Beach).
I also had both Cerulean and American Redstart 
along the causeway at Magee (woods at south end).
Both Wilson's and redstart were reliably reported
on the Trail in the morning. I heard reports but
could not confirm Cape May and Orange-crowned
Warbler.

Leaving at 6pm, there were 3 Snowy Egrets along
the causeway.

No sign of a godwit at the end of Veler Rd (a 
Hudsonian was reported by Mike Bolton and John
Szanto). I was surprised to make out 34 snipe.

Pictorial highlights.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/victor_fazio-iii/sets/72157617425242464/

Significant Odes
Swamp Darner - 8 at Metzger Marsh parking lot
Wandering Glider - 1 hovering out of the wind at the 
   warbler info board - west Bird Trail entrance.

cheers

Vic Fazio
just another tourist birder :-)




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