With a large pre-dawn flight of migrants, I rushed out to two of my favorite local traps: Oxbow Island at Hoover Reservoir and New Galena at Alum Lake State Park.  Each had a different set of birds, showing how different migrants moved.

Oxbow is an island, which makes it a real trap for night migrants looking for a dawn resting & feeding place.  As soon as I got out of the car, I could hear thrushes and warblers, and they were all along the parking areas and causeway to the island.  I spent several delirious minutes looking _down_ on warblers - Nashvilles, Black-thr.Greens, Cape mays, and Blackpolls - as they fed in asters and willow saplings along the side of the road.  Highlights in an hour included:
Thrushes - 15 Swainsons, 2 Gray-cheeked, and 1 late Wood Thrush
Mimids - 15+ Catbirds, 1 Mockingbird (along road in)
Cedar Waxwings - a flock of 100-120 feeding on berries around the last parking lot on the island.
Warblers - 14 species: Nashville (2), Tenn.(3), Magnolia (6), Black-thr.Green (6), Blackpoll (2), Blackburnian, Yellow-rumped, Cape may (3), Black&White, Redstart (4), Ovenbird, Hooded (1 male), Wilson's, Com.Yellowthroat.
Others: Rose-br.grosbeak (3), Scarlet Tanager (1)

New Galena is a peninsula hanging down along the east shore of Alum Lake.  it doesn't have many forest-sized trees, so it isn't a particularly attractive spot to night migrants.  But it does funnel day-flying birds down the shore in the morning.  Highlights in an hour there included:
Raptors - 12 Turkey Vultures, 1 Osprey
Swifts - small flocks of 10-15 were swirling past all morning.
Swallows & Flycatchers - 2 Rough-winged swallows flying past the point, and 2 Phoebes flycatching around the point and bay
Blue Jays - 115 flew by, mostly in small flocks, between 9:15 - 10:15
Thrushes - 8+ Swainsons and 2 Gray cheeked were hanging out in the berry bushes along the loop trail here, while 25-30 Robins flew over the point.
Mimids - 25 Catbirds along the trails (less than the 60+ here a week ago), plus 1 Mockingbird along the road
Cedar Waxwings - multiple flocks for a total of 250+ birds, mostly flying south
Warblers - 6 species: Magnolia (4), Black-thr.Green (2), Blackpoll, Cape May (2), Redstart (3), Com.Yellowthroat (3)
Blackbirds - small flocks of Redwings flew past, while a big flock of Grackles (200+) was foraging along the Africa Rd nearby.

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