The abundance of early-arriving birds in Sapsucker Woods on Wednesday was satisfying, to be sure, but unusual to the point of being a bit disorienting. While numbers never tell the full story, in this case they offer a clear and striking outline of the birding morning: 90 minutes, 52 bird species, 10 warbler species, at least 5 species that I think must be earliest spring records in Sapsucker Woods for me, 2 ceBcps (coveted eBird "confirm" prompts), 1 new acquaintance made with a person previously known only from list postings, and 2 more trail encounters with regular springtime fellow watchers. Here are some highlights.
* adult male CAPE MAY WARBLER heard singing and then plainly seen along East Trail near green Lucente service building. Nate Williams got an intelligible photo of this bird. * NASHVILLE WARBLER and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER near this Cape May Warbler * singing NORTHERN PARULA at the Hermit Thrush spot to the east of the north end of the Woodleton Boardwalk * BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER between Sherwood Platform and lone bench to the south along Wilson Trail (I am thinking that this place needs to be dubbed officially as the Black-throated Blue Warbler spot -- they love it here), and also along Wilson Trail near shelter at Severinghaus intersection * NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, OVENBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT rounding out the double-digit warbler total * HERMIT THRUSHES and RUSTY BLACKBIRDS still numerous, conspicuous, and thoroughly fun to watch at Hermit Thrush spot * at least one singing WOOD THRUSH along the East Trail * one singing ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK along the Wilson Trail North Thanks to Dave Nutter for posting alerts earlier. Mark Chao PS. I just tried to send this, but I think I used the wrong email account. If this comes through twice, please excuse the mailbox clutter. Thank you! -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
