We had a pretty darn good day of warbler watching yesterday at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. NexRad showed an impressive migratory movement of birds overnight and a small morning rain shower was moving out of our area. Some of the best birding I've experienced has been during or just after a rain shower. I often tell birders to try and get out there because the bird activity can be super intense under such conditions. Luckily for our group, things were perfect for rendering yesterday as such a day. Shortly after a light shower subsided, large numbers of hungry warblers descended into the stream corridor. We observed nearly a dozen warbler species within a few minutes – I don't think I've ever seen so many Tenneseee Warblers and American Redstarts. In fact, there were so many birds it was difficult to know where to look or feel like you should stay on any one bird for too long - ya might miss something else! As I said to my birding companions yesterday, I felt like “a one-eyed cat in a fish market!”
From my eBird report:
Location: Pheasant Branch
Observation date: 9/3/08
Number of species: 42
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler American Redstart © 2008 Mike McDowell