A late afternoon crossing of Ledyard Bridge caused a change of plans 
that led to a memorable evening of birding. Noticing ~5:30 pm that the 
river was down 18" or so, I headed upriver to check Pompy Flats, which 
were exposed but largely birdless, save for a dozen Mallards, a Great 
Blue Heron, and 3 Killdeer. On a whim, I zipped over to Campbell Flats, 
arriving at 6:20. The next 75 minutes brought some of the most fun and 
rewarding birding I've had in a long while. The place was absolutely 
buzzing with songbirds at all levels of the air space, from ground level 
to >200 feet above. The setting sun and warm temps had insectivorous 
birds putting on a show, with waxwings dominating as they alternated 
between hawking insects and gorging on the local smorgasbord of fruits. 
Above them were a dozen Barn Swallows and at least 1 Chimney Swift, plus 
a trio of E. Kingbirds pretending to be swallows. At 6:35 pm a Common 
Nighthawk swooped silently by heading southeast; another appeared 15 
minutes later - I could easily have missed others, as I was transfixed 
by the songbird show.

Flycatchers seemed to be everywhere, though I likely kept seeing many of 
same birds. I walked several times up and down a 0.1-mile stretch of the 
road, between the corn field and small parking area with horse trailer. 
Activity was most intense in the fruiting trees and shrubs on either 
side of the drainage ditch at the beginning of the flats. There were 
definitely some migrants in the mix, and I got the sense that many birds 
were loading up, perhaps for a night flight. Lighting was spectacular, 
the air still and summery, the birds in performance mode. An evening to 
remember!

Highlights among the 42 species:

Common Nighthawk  2     first at 6:35 pm, second 15 minutes later, both moving southeast
Chimney Swift  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Willow Flycatcher  2     calling; one immature begging to adult
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher)  4
Eastern Phoebe  1
Eastern Kingbird  3
Red-eyed Vireo  2     1 singing
Barn Swallow  10
House Wren  1
Veery  1
American Robin  9     8 flying southeast at ~7 pm
Gray Catbird  10
Cedar Waxwing  30     conservative estimate; extremely active hawking insects and eating fruits
Black-and-white Warbler  1     briefly sang
Nashville Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  3
American Redstart  3
Bay-breasted Warbler  2     possibly 3, seen extremely well at close range in excellent light; gray legs and feet noted
Yellow Warbler  2
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Chipping Sparrow  4     3 juvenal-plumaged birds with adult along road side
White-throated Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  8
Scarlet Tanager  1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  4
Indigo Bunting  7
Bobolink  60     minimum number; 3 flocks left corn field and flew to southeast, calling
Red-winged Blackbird  75     minimum number
Baltimore Oriole  2

View this checklist online athttp://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24663224

-- 
Chris Rimmer
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
P.O. Box 420
Norwich, VT 05055
802-649-1431 ext. 1
www.vtecostudies.org

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