Erie Bluffs
Southwest winds and cloudy skies promised new migrants this morning. The Erie Bluffs site has a lot of brushy edge habitat, and I could hear lots of singing White-throated Sparrows as I was setting up the nets. The first check of the nets resulted in Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Palm Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Slate-colored Junco, Swamp Sparrow and 10+ White-throats.Among them was the first Swamp Sparrow of the banding year. It was a bit stressed, so I didn’t take many photos of it.
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This was a nice SY male Slate-colored Junco, based on pointed tail feathers and hints of brown on the back and head.
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This Western Palm Warbler was very cooperative, allowing me to take some nice shots.
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Unfortunately, the wind picked up significantly around 9 AM, so I ended up closing all of the nets around 11 AM and calling it a day. Some hawkwatching in the parking lot at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center resulted in dozens of Broad-winged Hawks, Turkey Vultures and an adult Golden Eagle.
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