Mini Waves

This last week, we had a few good days of overcast skies with low visibility and a light south wind--perfect for pushing migrating birds down to our little rock. We call these "wave days". These recent waves were tiny compared to what happens if the ideal weather conditions occur in late September/early October, but when you have only four or five species of songbird on the island (and only one or two individuals of each species), doubling or tripling your species count feels like a lot!

One of the days, the Coast Guard tree was dripping with warblers: Yellow, Wilson's, Tennessee, Townsend's, Hermit, and a Black-throated Gray. Later, a Northern Waterthrush showed up, bobbing below the gravity tank half-way up the Lighthouse Hill Trail. We had a few flycatchers (Willow, Pacific-slope, and a Western Wood-pewee) being sneaky in the tree as well. We had a Phainopepla, only the 7th record for the island, as well as a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a Cliff Swallow, a Hooded Oriole, a few Bullock's Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeak, a Western Tanager, a Yellow-headed Blackbird, a couple of Mockingbirds, Chipping, Lark, and Savannah Sparrows, a House Wren, and eventually a MacGillivray's Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat. A few shorebirds stopped by, including Short-billed Dowitchers, Least and Western Sandpipers, and a couple of Semipalmated Plovers. A pretty good week so far!

Yellow Warbler.

Western Sandpiper.

First banded bird of the Fall season, a Western Wood-pewee.

Tennessee Warbler hiding in the Lavaterra.

A color-banded Townsend's Warbler (female).

One of two Semipalmated Plovers.

Northern Waterthrush.

Ghost Waterthrush.