This was a strange week. The beginning of the week at Waits River - Connecticut river confluence produced a Blackpoll and Bay-breasted Warbler, plus Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a ton of catbirds and some shore birds to boot. Then everything seemed to move out on Tuesday and Wednesday all went quiet.... But not really. Every time I wandered out, whether to Bradford (for Red-bellied Woodpecker) or into the back yard, I seemed to stumble into something interesting. Just one or two warblers each time.
Back yard warblers added up to:
Common Yellowthroat
Magnolia Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackburnian Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
The last two being back yard firsts.
Yesterday a Sharp-shinned hawk landed at my feet with a freshly caught robin:
And a little later in a crab apple tree was a bonus bird: Philadelphia Vireo (another back yard first).
This morning, while waiting for Bill Shepard at Depot Street in Bradford, a Great Egret flew over and I had reasonable views of an early migrant Lincoln's Sparrow.