Stéphane’s Blog for May 21, 2011

99 Species in 7 Hours at Cabot Head!

Yes, we had 99 species in 7 hours of migration monitoring this morning (May 21), with a little help from our friends, Birdathoners Ted and Rod who dropped by for a couple of hours. Numbers were not that impressive but it was a constant flow of a very diverse kind. We had 23 species of warblers in total, including the first Wilson’s Warbler of the spring (but no Northern Parula or any unusual ones like Hooded…).

Other first for the season are: Philadelphia Vireo; Scarlet Tanager; Olive-sided Flycatcher; Northern Cardinal (!); American Bittern (while opening nets).

There were a lot of raptors as well: big kettles of up to 50 Broad-winged Hawks; several Red-tailed Hawks; one Red-shouldered Hawk and one Rough-legged Hawk; lots of Sharp-shinned Hawk; one Cooper’s Hawk and one Northern Goshawk, as well as one Peregrine Falcon.

The first “official” Common Terns, 3 of them, were heard first, and then emerged from the fog! (we had them one afternoon a few days ago)

It would have not taken much to break the 100-species barrier: a Red-breasted Merganser; or a Brown Thrasher; or even a Mourning Dove… Which shows how a spectacular place Cabot Head can be! Just need to be here at the right time (that’s why we’re here all the time!).

Stéphane