I'll just quickly cover new birds that have been showing up in the neighborhood for the past 2 weeks. I was able to get out onto our neighborhood hike-and-bike trail last weekend and this weekend and found several first-of-Fall bird species and lots of south-bound migrants. Here are the highlights:
- A few of the elegant hawks, Mississippi Kites, have been passing over the neighborhood on their way south. I saw 2 last weekend and 1 this morning.
- Southbound warblers in the area include many bright and beautiful Yellow Warblers, and this morning I was pleased to find 1 Wilson's Warbler.
- Many small flycatchers in the Empidonax genus (mostly Least Flycatchers) are moving south through our area, and last weekend I also saw 2 Olive-sided Flycatchers. Here's a picture I got of one:
- Orchard Orioles have been a relatively common south-bound migrant for the past few weeks. This morning I saw 2 Baltimore Orioles as well.
- This morning 2 Upland Sandpipers flew over me as I stood on Lake Creek Trail in the middle of the Town and Country playing fields. This is a species more often heard than seen during its migration south, so I enjoyed watching them fly over.
Keep your eyes on your hummingbird feeders. My neighbor Don Markette emailed me recently about a Rufous Hummingbird that has been visiting his feeders. The males are dramatically reddish brown almost all over and are passing south through the Austin area. Also, a few even spend all winter here, so keep your feeders up as long as you like and maybe you'll see one!
3 comments:
Wow, I'd love to see one of those kites. They look gorgeous.
Yes, unfortunately the kites are usually very high in the sky. But just once I found a few that had roosted for the night near our hike-and-bike trail footbridge. That was a fun find!
Mikael, today (9-6-09) was good morning in the backyard. The neighbors hackberry tree is getting a lot of attention. I saw a painted bunting and 6 Baltimore orioles. A male and female oriole flew down to one of my hummer feeders and it was the closest I have ever been to them. The male has to be one of the most brilliantly colored birds I have ever seen! It's far more colorful than the winter look they give us on their way north. Also at the same feeder a female downy woodpecker fed for quite a while as a male ruby throat tried to intimidate her away. I had never seen that before either. By the way, the hummer population has almost doubled so I guess we are seeing the southern movement picking up.
If these are the same birds that came through in the spring to feed on the mulberries I am looking forward to the grosbeaks as well.
Thanks, BackYardBirder
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