The past few days, early mornings have been cold and crisp, but weather like this always seems to make that first cup of coffee more enjoyable. The warming sun usually melts the frost within an hour or so after sunrise. Hermit Thrushes, Pine Siskins, and Dark-eyed Juncos were first-of-season arrivals over the weekend. Now it's difficult to pick out anything another than Yellow-rumps from the warbler flocks moving through Pheasant Branch Conservancy, however I did manage to find a few Tennessee and Nashville Warblers. A singing Common Yellowthroat at the prairie parcel seemed to be in as much denial as me – I just don't want to be over yet. But sparrows are moving into the fields and woodlots, and they make excellent photography subjects, too. So, at some point this week I'll give up on birding the creek corridor and concentrate on sparrows at the prairie. Perhaps there will be a Harris's Sparrow in my near future.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Location: Pheasant Branch
Observation date: 10/3/10
Number of species: 49
Canada Goose
Ring-necked Pheasant
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Clay-colored Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
All images © 2010 Mike McDowell