Subject: migrant waves
Date: Apr 15 14:40:58 1994
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


E-mail should be a good place to compare notes on migrants. On Wednesday,
13 April, I had 25 Ruby-crowned Kinglets move through my yard in north
Seattle (Maple Leaf) in a matter of 15 minutes right at noon; also 2
Orange-crowned and a Yellow-rumped warbler (heard only; I keep track of
Myrtle vs. Audubon's). One minute there were none, then they were all over
the place, the male kinglets singing and chasing, and then they were gone,
just like that. The speed of small insectivores moving through the trees is
phenomenal at times, and it took me many years before I realized that
flocks of migrants moved like this, in the same manner as winter feeding
flocks. The weather was stormy, as it usually is when I see waves of
migrants in western WA.