The Wandering Naturalist: The Juncos have arrived.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Juncos have arrived.

It was an interesting morning yesterday. The warbler numbers of early last week have dropped by almost 100%.
I found only one species. A lone Magnolia. The late fall migrants are starting to pick up. I heard one report of Lapland Longspurs by Stevens point already. Anyway, here's what I found:

Magnolia Warbler
Blue-headed vireo
White-throated Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
DE Junco
Chickadee
Blue Jay
Song sparrow
Barred Owl
Lincoln's sparrow
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker

Golden-crowned Kinglet was a new bird for the season as was the Lincoln's sparrow.
The oldtimers say that you can expect snow 10-12 days after you see the first Junco of the season. We'll see if that holds.
The temp is supposed to be warm this weekend but may crash dive next week.

1 comment:

Birdfreak.com said...: It's been so warm around here that I can't believe snow could be possible!

I saw my first junco today. (We are in northern Illinois) I also saw a couple American Redstarts and a Nashville Warbler.

Migration is slowing down...bring on the snow!

Good birding to you!; October 6, 2007 at 10:13 PM

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(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)

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-- Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad

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"He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls."

--A.L. Tennyson, "The Eagle"

"This monument, perched like a duckhawk on this cliff, will scan this wide valley, watching through the days and years. For many a March, it will watch the geese go by. For many an April, it will see the redbuds come and go, and for many a May the flush of Oak-blooms on a thousand hills. Questing wood Ducks will search these basswoods for hollow limbs; golden Prothonotaries will shake golden pollen from river willows. Egrets will pose on these sloughs in August; Plovers will whistle from september skies. Hickory nuts will plop into October leaves and hail will rattle November woods. But no pigeons will pass for there are no pigeons, save only this flightless one graven in bronze on this rock.
Tourists will read this inscription but their thoughts will not take wing."
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