Scott et al.,
I've also noticed way more Cape May Warblers than usual this year (seems
like I'm seeing them everywhere in 1s and 2s). But I've yet to see or
hear a Bay-breasted.
As for birds feeding on the ground, I've been seeing a similar thing
near my house. But rather than feeding on the ground, they've been
foraging on the roof of my neighbor's house, under a large elm tree. My
max counts this afternoon in about 20 minutes of watching (all on the
neighbor's roof, most of these at the same time):
26(!) Tennessee Warblers
2 Cape May
1 Yellow
2 Blackburnian
2 Chestnut-sided
2 Palm
7 Blackpoll
4 Nashville
1 Black-and-white
5 Yellow-rumped
2 Orange-crowned
1 Redstart
4 Swainson's Thrushes
1 Gray Catbird
2 White-throated Sparrows
3 Chipping Sparrow
The sight of 40+ warblers of ~10 species all foraging together on the
roof of a house, is one of the most amazing experiences I've had in 15
years of birding. In the past few days, my very suburban yard has also
hosted orioles, grosbeaks, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Lincoln's Sparrow,
Golden-winged and Magnolia Warblers, Ovenbird, and Gray-cheeked Thrush.
I've found this to be a fantastic spring for seeing migrant passerines.
Get out and enjoy the migration!
Matt Dufort
Minneapolis, MN
On 5/13/11 9:29 PM, Scott Loss wrote:
I have also been seeing the street-feeding mixed flocks under elms, with one
especially diverse flock located a block north from the north end of Lake Como.
Yesterday, it included: Indigo Bunting, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated
Sparrow, House Sparrow, Swainson's Thrush, Bay-breasted Warbler, Tennessee
Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler. My friend Gopi Sundar reported
the same at the U of M student housing in St. Paul, with additional species
including Magnolia, Cape May, and Nashville Warblers, plus Robin, and Cowbird.
On a related note, is it just me, or are Bay-breasted and Cape May Warblers particularly
abundant this year? Typically, these are the hardest "common" warblers for me
to find, as I see 1 or 2 a spring, and I sometimes completely miss one or the other over
the course of an entire season. This year, I have seen 3+ of each every time out... and
not just on the ground (which would suggest increased ease of detectability over previous
years), but also feeding in tree canopies. Was there a spruce budworm outbreak in the
boreal forest last year?
Scott Loss
St. Paul
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