Hello, all. Thought I'd just report on a few recent early-morning listenings.
On Sunday morning, August 28th, in Decorah, Winneshiek County, northeastern Iowa, more than 20 participants in an Iowa Ornithologists' Union field trip enjoyed a cool, calm, starry night on a hilltop at Seed Savers Exchange. We listened for 45 minutes starting at 5:00 a.m., and we enjoyed a slow but steady flight of Veeries, Swainson's Thrushes, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and some grosbeak/tanager flight calls. Also a few American Redstarts, a number of Chipping Sparrows (I believe the Chipping Sparrows were just local birds moving around, doing the zugunruhe thing), and various warbler/sparrow flight calls. Nice to hear Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, and Eastern Screech-Owl, and fascinating, if a bit morbid, to watch John Bissell get decapitated by a Common Nighthawk. Poor fella didn't have a chance... This Monday morning, August 29th, I listened for a little while here in Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, starting at 5:00 a.m. There were a few high clouds, and winds were out of the north-northeast. As in Iowa the night before, the flight was slow but steady--an average of right around 1 flight call per minute. Most numerous were the flight calls of Wilson's Warblers and flight calls that I believe are those of Brewer's Sparrow. Also a few Chipping Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, Lark Buntings, and Lincoln's Sparrows. An ear-piercingly loud Solitary Sandpiper was nice, too. A comment. So far this year (it could all change tomorrow, I realize!), the "fall" of 2011 is shaping up to be the poster-child year for my take on the prevalence and intensity of mid-summer nocturnal migration in Colorado vs. "normal" migration later in the season. I detected many more nocturnal flight calls per hour during the period 18 July 2011 - 9 August 2011 than I have in the period 10 August 2011 through the present. ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding Please check out the website of the ABA: http://tinyurl.com/6kmbfvx And please check out The ABA Blog: http://tinyurl.com/4n6qswt We're on twitter, too: http://tinyurl.com/2ejzlzv ------------------------------- -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
