Birds aplenty

[billhammond]

Excerpt from Duluth News Tribune:


DULUTH — Bird counters at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve tallied a whopping 14,054 blue jays flying over on Sept. 10, and the total count so far this autumn is 75,869 — a new record.

The 2023 fall count has blown past the previous record fall flight of 60,523 blue jays, with several weeks of counting yet to come.

The blue jays, like dozens of other bird species, fly over Duluth to avoid flying over Lake Superior on their southward migration, making the city, and especially Hawk Ridge, one of the best birding areas in the nation.

Other big counts at Hawk Ridge as of Wednesday morning include 14,127 cedar wax wings, 11,588 warblers, 7,662 sharp-shinned hawks, 6,695 broad-winged hawks, 5,560 Canada geese, 2,264 grackles and 1,770 American kestrels.

The total bird count so far this season hit 151,379 Wednesday.

Laura Erickson, a Duluth-based birding expert, suspects the blue jays are winging over this area because of a bumper crop of acorns and other wild foods this year.

[Marty]

Twitching Capital of the US.

[epaul]

When I was a more active birder, I used make a trip to Hawk Ridge every Fall (Duluth in the Fall is a wonderful, wonderful trip, birds or no birds, love that city and love that region). I am still a birder, but most of it is now done through my window. So far today, my bird count is six chickadees, seven house finches, two nuthatches, one downy woodpecker, and a sparrow. (and, just to get LJ drooling, a plump, juicy gray squirrel, at least a two pounder!)

[Village Idiot]

So far I've seen one cloud of blackbirds in the sky; the mass that floats through the air and constantly changes shape but manages to stick together as a unit while it drifts through the sky heading somewhere. It's a sure sign that fall is coming around here. By the way, it's my understanding that those clouds aren't just one kind of bird, but a bunch of types like sparrows and starlings and other birds about that size.

[Marshall]

Keep you wiper fluid container filled.

[millring]

Sept 27, 2023 19:24:06 GMT -5 Village Idiot said:

So far I've seen one cloud of blackbirds in the sky; the mass that floats through the air and constantly changes shape but manages to stick together as a unit while it drifts through the sky heading somewhere. It's a sure sign that fall is coming around here. By the way, it's my understanding that those clouds aren't just one kind of bird, but a bunch of types like sparrows and starlings and other birds about that size.

I first saw this video more than ten yeas ago. Thousands of youtubes later, it's still one of my favorites.



The flocks are getting larger in the countryside. They're up to thousands now. One of the more exhilarating experiences I've ever had on a route was the afternoon I drove up a gravel road and scared up a flock of thousands that were scattered on the ground on either side of the way. As I got closer, the part of the flock that was to the right of the road took off toward the left. The flock to the left (and slightly further away) took off to the right so that by the time I got to the flock it looked as though I'd entered a whirlwind of swirling blackbirds.

[John B]

This one time I was at a birthday party with Bob Newhart's wife, the guy that had the time machine and Melanie Griffith's mom. There were a lot of birds there, too.

[John B]

Storm Delivers a Trans-Atlantic Gift: North American Birds
Hurricane Lee brought warblers and other colorful species rarely seen in Britain and Ireland for what will most likely be a temporary visit.

More than a dozen species of North American birds rarely seen in Britain and Ireland have been spotted along the countries’ western shores after being blown off their usual migration routes by remnants of Hurricane Lee and surviving the perilous journey across the Atlantic, experts said.

The arrival of warblers, vireos and other colorful birds last week has excited Britain’s twitching community — enthusiastic bird-watchers who will travel long distances to view new or unusual species. A sighting of a Canada warbler was the first recorded in Britain and similarly, a Blackburnian warbler was spotted in Ireland for the first time. Experts said twitchers should act fast if they want to see the North American arrivals, as the phenomenon will last just a few days longer.

www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/us/american-birds-sightings-uk-ireland.html