A major passerine flight was well underway early this morning, picking
up steam as the hours wore on. From my vantage point atop an
apartment building in Lakeside, I was right smack in the middle of the
action. I counted from sunrise until 10:45 AM, at which point the
steady stream of migrants had already tapered off. The most numerous
birds were warblers, with 9 species identified, although the vast
majority were left nameless. Out of these, Cape May Warblers (23)
made a notable showing, with many more certainly unidentified (in all
likelihood, easily over 100). Eastern Kingbirds staged an impressive
flight, mostly in small groups, although congregations of 8 and 16
birds were observed winging their way down the shore. Rose-breasted
Grosbeaks, too, made a strong diurnal showing (38), with Karl Bardon
up at Hawk Ridge tallying another dozen birds (for a two-site, Duluth
total of 50 flat!). All birds listed among the eBird highlight reel
were flybys:
Common Loon 3
Wilson's Snipe 1
Mourning Dove 2
Common Nighthawk 580
Olive-sided Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 153
Blue Jay 5
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 3
Cliff Swallow 12
Cedar Waxwing 1081
Unidentified warbler 1670
Cape May Warbler 23
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 38
Bobolink 28
Red-winged Blackbird 1327
Common Grackle 12
Baltimore Oriole 3
Purple Finch 54
American Goldfinch 22
Total Non-Raptors = 5045
Good Birding,
Cameron Rutt
Duluth,
St. Louis County
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