This last week has been a bit of a mixed bag.
Saturday night past produced a small wave of early moving migrants and wanderers, including:
quite a few RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES;
1 or 2 EASTERN KINGBIRDS;
a small few of YELLOW WARBLERS;
some more NORTHERN WATER THRUSHES;
an apparently lone BLACK & WHITE WARBLER;
our third DOWNY WOODPECKER of the year;
a couple WIMBRELS;
numerous PHALAROPES (night time fly-bys);
1 or 2 female/juvenile RUBY THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS and;
a couple of PURPLE FINCHES.
Most of these arrivals settled in for a leisurely stay, although foraging isn't so good for the Hummers just yet.
The PURPLE ASTER is just beginning to bloom and it's the late summer mainstay for them and the migrating Butterflies, along with the generally less abundant GOLDEN ROD.
One Hummer surprised me with its very early morning flight. It's not often that one sees those little fellows cruising the neighbourhood before the sun gets above the horizon.
Butterflies are still scarce although SULPHURS are on the rise.
The Black & White Warbler proved to be quite people-tolerant, spending its time around the buildings, snagging insects and generally acting, as they will, like a BROWN CREEPER. That foraging behaviour took her through an open window and into the occupied bedroom of a UNB staffer for a short visit.
Similar behaviour saw a Nuthatch get between inner & outer basement windows to reap the abundant insects. I left it there, correctly assuming that a Nuthatch, being a cavity nester and just plain smart, it would simply exit via the small entry hole once the bug supply was exhausted.
A second Nuthatch refused to leave the same basement for 2 days. Warm, dry, good food, water, no predators or disturbance and secure sleeping accommodations: what more could you want? Twice I carried it outside the door and it immediately re-entered. After two days it must have reduced the insect supply because it departed of its own accord.
On the Alcid front, things aren't so rosy. There are still a fair number of Puffins being feed; perhaps 2 or 3 hundred (?) but the food coming in is still remarkably unimpressive. I suspect that lots of chicks continue to starve, in spite of getting food.
Fledging weights this year have typically been under 200 grams and more in the range of 170 grams minus. In a good season they would be around 300 grams and up.
I believe that the production rate from monitored burrows came in this year at 12%, compared with a more usual rate in the order of 70% - 80%. Worse, that only means that 12% left the nest.
In the face of the dismal condition of most chicks, the number of chicks that actually got to the water or managed to care for themselves is questionable. Personally, I'd very pleasantly surprised if 5% survive.
Raptors are increasing in variety and frequency.
There's currently a SHARP SHINNED HAWK disturbing the breakfast tranquility but the youngster hasn't found much success this morning. It's inexperience really shows.
MERLINS & PEREGRINES have been filtering through.
EAGLES are random but often, the most recent was yesterday afternoon. There's a dead GRAY SEAL ashore up the island that gulls are sampling but I don't know if any Eagles are indulging.
A couple of NORTHERN HARRIERS (1 female & 1 juvenile) have each stopped off for 4 or 5 days, benefiting from the abundance of newly minted SAVANNAH SPARROWS.
The Shorebird migration continues relatively uneventfully.
Saturday night past produced a small wave of early moving migrants and wanderers, including:
quite a few RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES;
1 or 2 EASTERN KINGBIRDS;
a small few of YELLOW WARBLERS;
some more NORTHERN WATER THRUSHES;
an apparently lone BLACK & WHITE WARBLER;
our third DOWNY WOODPECKER of the year;
a couple WIMBRELS;
numerous PHALAROPES (night time fly-bys);
1 or 2 female/juvenile RUBY THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS and;
a couple of PURPLE FINCHES.
Most of these arrivals settled in for a leisurely stay, although foraging isn't so good for the Hummers just yet.
The PURPLE ASTER is just beginning to bloom and it's the late summer mainstay for them and the migrating Butterflies, along with the generally less abundant GOLDEN ROD.
One Hummer surprised me with its very early morning flight. It's not often that one sees those little fellows cruising the neighbourhood before the sun gets above the horizon.
Butterflies are still scarce although SULPHURS are on the rise.
The Black & White Warbler proved to be quite people-tolerant, spending its time around the buildings, snagging insects and generally acting, as they will, like a BROWN CREEPER. That foraging behaviour took her through an open window and into the occupied bedroom of a UNB staffer for a short visit.
Similar behaviour saw a Nuthatch get between inner & outer basement windows to reap the abundant insects. I left it there, correctly assuming that a Nuthatch, being a cavity nester and just plain smart, it would simply exit via the small entry hole once the bug supply was exhausted.
A second Nuthatch refused to leave the same basement for 2 days. Warm, dry, good food, water, no predators or disturbance and secure sleeping accommodations: what more could you want? Twice I carried it outside the door and it immediately re-entered. After two days it must have reduced the insect supply because it departed of its own accord.
On the Alcid front, things aren't so rosy. There are still a fair number of Puffins being feed; perhaps 2 or 3 hundred (?) but the food coming in is still remarkably unimpressive. I suspect that lots of chicks continue to starve, in spite of getting food.
Fledging weights this year have typically been under 200 grams and more in the range of 170 grams minus. In a good season they would be around 300 grams and up.
I believe that the production rate from monitored burrows came in this year at 12%, compared with a more usual rate in the order of 70% - 80%. Worse, that only means that 12% left the nest.
In the face of the dismal condition of most chicks, the number of chicks that actually got to the water or managed to care for themselves is questionable. Personally, I'd very pleasantly surprised if 5% survive.
Raptors are increasing in variety and frequency.
There's currently a SHARP SHINNED HAWK disturbing the breakfast tranquility but the youngster hasn't found much success this morning. It's inexperience really shows.
MERLINS & PEREGRINES have been filtering through.
EAGLES are random but often, the most recent was yesterday afternoon. There's a dead GRAY SEAL ashore up the island that gulls are sampling but I don't know if any Eagles are indulging.
A couple of NORTHERN HARRIERS (1 female & 1 juvenile) have each stopped off for 4 or 5 days, benefiting from the abundance of newly minted SAVANNAH SPARROWS.
The Shorebird migration continues relatively uneventfully.
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS have been up to 200-300 but a 100 or so is more like the daily average.
LEAST SANDPIPERS haven't been above a few dozen.
SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS are just one or two randomly now.
Likewise with the RUDDY TURNSTONES.
I've only seen 3 WILLETS this week but their slowdown has been offset with a few WIMBRELS passing through.
WOODCOCK were sighted a couple times, although I suspect it's been a single bird.
Also, a single SNIPE was around a day or two.
Yesterday I saw a BITTERN fly in for a landing, out of sight, near the shore. I failed to locate it a couple hours later. I think that they quickly realize that the brackish, stagnant puddles in the rocks are devoid of food for them.
Also yesterday, a particularly bright male Purple Finch showed up on the patio while a female BOBOLINK spent the afternoon and evening feeding on TIMOTHY seed near the patio.
The Red Breasted Nuthatches which I mentioned earlier are very abundant this year, easily the most that I've ever seen herein 21 summers.
Once this week, I had 10 in sight simultaneously while sitting here looking out of the window. After a walk around yesterday and watching them around the lighthouse every morning, I'm confident that there are well over 30 of the little tykes on the island.
CEDAR WAXWINGS appear every few days but only 2-4 at a time. 2 new arrivals are presently perched just outside our kitchen window.
TREE & BARN SWALLOWS have been passing through daily in low numbers but Thursday morning brought over 50 Tree Swallows. Many (if not most) were juveniles. It's been a while since I've seen the wires loaded with swallows, especially out here.
Bird of the week: PROTHONATARY WARBLER, a bright female that stayed around our patio and house for a couple days.
Photographs here: http://birdingnewbrunswick.ca/context=user
LEAST SANDPIPERS haven't been above a few dozen.
SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS are just one or two randomly now.
Likewise with the RUDDY TURNSTONES.
I've only seen 3 WILLETS this week but their slowdown has been offset with a few WIMBRELS passing through.
WOODCOCK were sighted a couple times, although I suspect it's been a single bird.
Also, a single SNIPE was around a day or two.
Yesterday I saw a BITTERN fly in for a landing, out of sight, near the shore. I failed to locate it a couple hours later. I think that they quickly realize that the brackish, stagnant puddles in the rocks are devoid of food for them.
Also yesterday, a particularly bright male Purple Finch showed up on the patio while a female BOBOLINK spent the afternoon and evening feeding on TIMOTHY seed near the patio.
The Red Breasted Nuthatches which I mentioned earlier are very abundant this year, easily the most that I've ever seen herein 21 summers.
Once this week, I had 10 in sight simultaneously while sitting here looking out of the window. After a walk around yesterday and watching them around the lighthouse every morning, I'm confident that there are well over 30 of the little tykes on the island.
CEDAR WAXWINGS appear every few days but only 2-4 at a time. 2 new arrivals are presently perched just outside our kitchen window.
TREE & BARN SWALLOWS have been passing through daily in low numbers but Thursday morning brought over 50 Tree Swallows. Many (if not most) were juveniles. It's been a while since I've seen the wires loaded with swallows, especially out here.
Bird of the week: PROTHONATARY WARBLER, a bright female that stayed around our patio and house for a couple days.
Photographs here: http://birdingnewbrunswick.ca/
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
0 comments:
Post a Comment