Ed:

Your note brings back very fond memories of birding Howard County, MD (about
midway between Baltimore and Washington DC) between 1987-1993. September
seems like a great time to bird almost anywhere in temperate zones, but I
loved fall birding there--the passerine migration was dazzling at times.

On waterthrushes: you could get either but in fact on Louisiana the latest
was usually before Sept 10, they left early. Blackpoll on the other hand
tended to show later--from about Sept 5-10 (early first arrivals) but mainly
late Sept to late Oct, problem was they were scattered singles, not like in
the spring when they were everywhere. Ovenbird was the same--just the
single bird here or there in Sept...

I saw you have 12 warbler sp. on your list. I would also expect
Bay-breasted (much better chance than Blackpoll now), and you have a chance
for at least 12 other warblers. On a good day in Howard Co in Sept (usually
a clear, colder-than-average morn), you could expect 10-15 sp., usually
along a forest or scrub edge near a stream or river valley, or lake. Places
where the sun hit not-to-tall deciduous trees early were better. Best highs
were for Magnolia, Tennessee or Black-throated Greens--you could get up to
20 of either one on the very best days. I used to especially enjoy hunting
for the "four biggies": Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, and
Golden-winged and Connecticut Warblers--all of which pass through PA also in
forest/edge habitat. I was pretty lucky on the first--I had one in Aug and
found singles twice in Sept; Philadelphia Vireo I found at least once in
Sept; Connecticut I found my last fall, on Sept. 15, 1993. Still, as MD
Birdlife showed, a few of the rare-but-annual "big four" were seen reliably
each fall--sometimes up to 10 sightings/bandings for each from late Aug-Sept
(and even into Oct except for GW Warbler). And Ed, don't give up on those
Empids--Yellow-bellied (they should have called it yellow-throated) is very
distinctive especially and your timing is ideal.

I always found the forest birds were best in Sept; October was the time to
head for fields, when the hot sparrows (Henslow's, Nelson's Sharp-tailed,
Lark, Vesper) and raptors were possible.

Enjoy!!!

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
email: scottratkinson at hotmail.com

>From: newboldwildlife at netscape.net
>Reply-To: newboldwildlife at netscape.net
>To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>Subject: birding the warbler migration in PA
>Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 23:05:53 -0400
>
>Birding the warbler migration in PA
>
>
>To paraphrase one of my least favorite movies, birding the warbler
>migration in Pennsylvania is like a box of chocolates-you never know what
>you're going to get. I've been pleasantly surprised by things every day.
>
>My wife Delia and I have been here in PA, 40 miles NW of Philly, 2 miles
>from the town of Boyertown, for the last five days. It's the land where I
>started birdwatching 38 years ago, and we've stayed put, not using a car at
>all and only birding my mom's 8 acres and maybe 50 more acres of neighbor's
>land where trespassing is appropriate. The area used to crawl with
>pheasants when I was a kid, and with hunting season approaching birding is
>often done to the tune of neighborly target shooting, even though you'd
>have about as much luck looking for a pheasant here now as for a Tufted
>Puffin.
>
>This is mostly sight-birding. The only birds regularly singing are the
>Pewees, which sing softer and softer as each day goes by, the Red Eyed
>Vireos, and the Carolina Wrens, which don't care what month it is since
>they sing all year.
>
>Here is our list more or less by order we saw the birds:
>
>1. Catbird
>2 Blue Jay
>3. Mockingbird (ok, they sing a bit)
>4. Song Sparrow
>5. Mourning Dove
>6. Carolina Wren
>7. White Breasted Nuthatch
>8. Great Blue Heron, (two ponds and a creek around here)
>9. Tufted Titmouse
>10. Eastern Wood Pewee (just like in the 60s, really abundant)
>11. Cardinal (ditto)
>12. Robin (forget earthworms, they're all eating fruit)
>13. Ruby Throated Hummingbird (common)
>14. Downy Woodpecker
>15. Red Bellied Woodpecker
>16. Yellow Shafted Flicker
>17. Red Eyed Vireo
>18. American Goldfinch
>19. Black & White Warbler
>20. American Redstart
>21 Magnolia Warbler (these last three were the commonest warblers here
>and were fairly ubiquitous, with a Black & White at one point foraging in
>grass lawn for a bug)
>22. Rose Breasted Grosbeak
>23. Barn Swallow
>24. Purple Grackle
>25 Chimney Swift
>26. Black Capped Chickadee
>27. Green Heron
>28. Turkey Vulture
>29. Blackburnian Warbler
>30. Indigo Bunting
>31. Belted Kingfisher
>32 Starling
>33. Crow (didn't see till the second day and didn't see close in,
>although they are probably increasing here.)
>34 Canada Geese
>35. Eastern Towhee
>36. Baltimore Oriole
>37 Black Throated Blue Warbler
>38 Parula Warbler
>39. Black Throated Green Warbler
>40. Chestnut Sided Warbler
>41. Red Tailed Hawk (they vocalize constantly around here)
>42. Tree Swallow
>43 Red Winged Blackbird
>44 House Finch
>45. Yellowthroat
>46. Rock Dove
>47. Sharp Shinned Hawk
>48. Hairy Woodpecker (no "sooty" look to this handsome bird around here!)
>49. Great Horned Owl
>50. House Wren
>51. Bobwhite (right after I told a guy they were extirpated)
>52. Tennessee Warbler
>53. Cape May Warbler
>54. Northern Harrier
>55. Canada Warbler
>56 Scarlet Tanager
>57. Yellow Throated Vireo
>58. Veery
>59. Empidonax (Empidonax in my experience all take a vow of silence before
>entering this area).
>60. Eastern Screech Owl
>61. Nashville Warbler
>62 Wood Thrush
>63 American Kestrel
>64 Field Sparrow
>
>Well that's it so far. I have only one morning left to try to get
>Ovenbird, Blackpoll, either Cuckoo or Water Thrush-or whatever the wind
>blows in!
>
>Ed Newbold, tweeter by digest, Beacon Hill, Seattle
>newboldwildlife at netscape.net
>
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