A wonderful fall morning in the fields and edges produced a nice variety and quantity of sparrows, and some "late" migrants.
Beginning and ending on the mudflat of the cove, a goodly 86 LAUGHING GULLS were carefully sifted through. 4 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 4 GREAT BLUE HERONS, and a BELTED KINGFISHER joined a flock of 60 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS among the regulars. As we returned to the car, a GREAT EGRET was present, and a flock of about 30 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS flew around the cove looking for a place to land. Unfortunately, they did not, as there were 1-2 slightly larger shorebirds with them that were probably young Dunlin, but could have been rarer Baird's Sandpipers. Alas, we'll never know.
The two big "sparrow patches" had a good number of migrants, with totals of 70 SONG SPARROWS, 65 SAVANNAH SPARROWS, 20 SWAMP SPARROWS, 5 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, 6 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, 2 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, 1 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and 1 CHIPPING SPARROW. However, as we have seen in recent years, the farm and gardens have been noteworthy for their "late" individuals, which today included an immature BALTIMORE ORIOLE and a truant NASHVILLE WARBLER!
A couple of COMMON RAVENS were flying about, a MERLIN zipped overhead, and a migrant YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER alighted in a snag.
But perhaps the highlight of the morning was seeing that bird-safe window treatments are finally being applied to the Smith Center building. This is a great start and most-welcome news, but unfortunately, we also found evidence of another deadly strike on the yet-to-be-treated side. But, we're getting there!