The flight of diurnal migrant passerines was mighty impressive this morning at the Lighthouse Point "hawkwatch" in New Haven, CT. Not that it was an unprecedented day...quite the contrary. Late fall mornings after a cold front typically produce bigtime flights of common species such as American Robin, blackbirds, and finches, and others (passerines and not).
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| Top billing goes to these EVENING GROSBEAKS, part of a flock of 20 that zipped through the park mid-morning. |
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| A close second was this skein of SNOW GEESE that shone like pearls against the blue sky. Sixty-one. Count' em! |
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| Several EASTERN MEADOWLARKS were swirling around the park for a while. |
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| A nice showing by EASTERN BLUEBIRD, with several small to medium-sized flocks throughout the morning. |
Watching the spectacle of migration at this site is both amazing and overwhelming on good days. When I pulled into the park just after 7am today, there were hundreds of birds in the air at once.
Of note, the very strong finch flight continued with large numbers of Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, and House Finch, plus the flock of Evening Grosbeaks noted above. And yes, hawks were flying too. I had to leave at noon to get to work, but Lighthouse had just reached a milestone with its 200th Bald Eagle of the year...and 201st, and 202nd...
- NB
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