Re: [mou-net] North Shore Migration

[Karl Bardon]

Cameron and I were in fact doing our morning non-raptor survey from the apt 
rooftop at Lester River in Duluth on 6 October- in three hours of counting 
beginning at sunrise, we saw nearly 11,000 migrants, which brings our season 
total to 219,466 non-raptors. Recent flights have been so large two observers 
are necessary on the rooftop to cover all the mixed flocks of migrants, and I 
expect these large flights to continue through October. Kim is right that the 
flight was primarily American Robins, and even his extrapolation was correct 
(we 
counted 6124 American Robins), but very large number of other species were 
mixed 
into these flocks, including one Gray Jay and thousands of warblers (mostly 
Yellow-rumps).

Our full count for 6 October was 11,633 non-raptors including 19 Cackling 
Geese, 
32 Canada Geese, 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 1 Downy Woodpecker, 1 Gray Jay 
(brigning our season total to 21 so far), 155 Blue Jays (bringing our season 
total to a record 64,843, with the flight mostly done), 463 American Crows, 19 
Common Ravens, 50 Horned Larks (best day so far), 6 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 5 
White-breasted Nuthatches, 75 Eastern Bluebirds, 6124 American Robins (bringing 
our season total to 26,665 with many many more to come), 16 European Starlings, 
60 American Pipits, 114 Cedar Waxwings, 151 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 8 Palm 
Warblers, 1975 unidentified warblers (bringing our season total to 27,503- not 
sure if there will be another large Yellow-rump push or not), 3 Fox Sparrows, 
314 Dark-eyed Juncos (best flight so far), 28 Lapland Longspurs, 2 Red-winged 
Blackbirds, 900 Rusty Blackbirds (bringing our season total for this declining 
species to a record 12,447), 11 Common Grackles, 167 Purple Finches, 3 House 
Finches, 261 Pine Siskins, 8 American Goldfinches, and 9 Evening Grosbeaks.

These non-raptor counts are updated daily at www.hawkcount.org which can also 
be 
viewed via the Hawk Ridge website at www.hawkridge.org

Karl Bardon and Cameron Rutt
Hawk Ridge counters


 

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[mou-net] North Shore migration

[Kim R Eckert]

Despite above-normal temperatures this morning, October 6, NW winds  
produced a strong movement of passerines along the North Shore of Lake  
Superior. Between 8:30 and 10:30 am I was birding between Brighton  
Beach in Duluth and Knife River in Lake Co and witnessed a non-stop  
flight of primarily Am Robins.


Also on the move in good numbers were Blue Jays, E Bluebirds, Dark- 
eyed Juncos, Rusty Blackbirds, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, and Am  
Goldfinches, but robins were by far more numerous than anything else.  
After taking some sample counts and doing some extrapolation, I  
estimate that a minimum of 6,000 robins passed by in that 2-hour  
period. This flight was essentially over by 10:45 am.


Curiously, I did not note any Gray Jays this morning, which seemed to  
be starting an early movement through Duluth during the past week.  
Also, it did not seem that many Yellow-rumpeds or other warblers were  
migrating this morning, although it's possible that they were moving  
before I was out. (Note that I didn't get started until 1 hour after  
sunrise.)


I hope Cameron Rutt and others were doing their roof-top passerine  
count in the Lakeside neighborhood this morning, and, if so, I look  
forward to their report.


Kim R Eckert
ecker...@gmail.com
MBWbirds.com


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