PO Box 9021, Wilmington, DE 19809, USA
E-mail: font@focusonnature.com
Phone: Toll-free in USA 1-888-721-3555
 or 302/529-1876
 


THE BIRDLINE, by ARMAS HILL

Birds Out of Place from the West, North, and South

Armas Hill has presented the "Birdline", originally from Philadelphia, on the phone and internet for over 3 decades, and on the radio in Delaware for about 10 years.


Links:

A List & Photo Gallery of North American Birds, in 6 Parts



The Birdline for September 20, 2011:


It is about to be Fall. And it's now about the time when some birds normally in western North America, can be found in the eastern part of the continent:  

In the East, from the West, this past week:

A TOWNSEND'S WARBLER was seen September 17, 18, & 19 (in the am) along the Maryland seacoast, at Assateague Island, in the Bayside Campground. It was keeping company with some eastern warblers: Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Magnolia, and Palm.

A BELL'S VIREO was at Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia on September 13.

A VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW was observed in Cape May, New Jersey today, September 20. Said to be a dull-plumaged bird, but with the white on the sides of the rump being notable, as it should be. It was seen with just one other swallow, a Barn.
There are 3 accepted records of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW in New Jersey: two birds in both November 1992 & October 1997 at Cape May, and one in November 1999 at East Point, in Cumberland County.   

In northern New Jersey, a SAY'S PHOEBE was seen in Whippany yesterday, September 19.

Not as unusual in the East, but also from the West, and also in New Jersey, a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD was seen at Brigantine Refuge on September 17 & 18.

In Virginia, a VARIED THRUSH, from northwestern North America, was seen on September 17.

CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS have been seen in recent days in Lenox, Massachusetts, and in Baltimore, Maryland, in Patterson Park on September 19.

Another westerner, a SWAINSON'S HAWK was seen at the hawk watch in Kiptopeke, Virginia, at the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, on September 19.


From the North, lately, NORTHERN WHEATEARS have been found lately in the Northeast US on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and, not that far away, at Montauk, on Long Island, New York on September 17.


From the South, there have been a few notable birds lately in the Northeast US:

About two weeks after Irene, a MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD was seen over Westchester County, New York, on Tuesday, September 13, in the sky above Pleasantville.

Single BROWN BOOBIES have continued in Massachusetts at Cape Cod, and in New Jersey at Cape May.

It was noted a couple weeks ago that a large swift, thought to be a BLACK SWIFT, was seen during Irene at Cape May, New Jersey, on August 28.
It was also noted that there is a population of BLACK SWIFTS in the Caribbean, on some of the larger Greater Antillean islands.

It is quite interesting that during and since Irene there have been other sightings of large dark swifts out-of-range in the eastern United States, apparently BLACK SWIFTS.
A "large swift" was noted over the Hudson River, seen from Manhattan, New York City, on August 28.
Another was noted as being seen in Massachusetts on September 1, near Belchertown and the Quabbin Reservoir, flying south with a group of Common Nighthawks. 
Two were seen in Charleston, South Carolina, at James Island, on August 30, with Chimney Swifts with which a good comparison could be made.
Most recently, a bird said to be a BLACK SWIFT was seen in North Carolina, in Haywood County, on September 19. It was circling overhead above the observer. Some CHIMNEY SWIFTS were seen in the sky there earlier that same day.
Most of these occurrences were sightings. At least one was photographed. Without a specimen, it can not be known for sure from which population of BLACK SWIFTS these vagrants would be, but it may assumed that they were from the Caribbean rather than from western North America. An assumption.


In Bermuda, the GREAT KISKADEE is a common bird, introduced from North America, where it occurs, as a resident, from south Texas to Argentina.
On August 28, during Irene, a GREAT KISKADEE was photographed onboard a ship in the New York harbor.


Next time, on the Birdline, probably more news of birds "out of place", also with some reference to recent bird migration, of BROAD-WINGED HAWKS, that have been moving south through the Northeast US in good numbers as they would be now, and of some PASSERINE BIRDS, migrating at night, as they normally do.



Armas Hill has presented the Birdline, originally from Philadelphia, on the phone and internet for decades (3), and on the radio in Delaware for years (10).

The Birdline is an affiliate of Focus On Nature Tours.

An e-mail was recently sent out about upcoming FONT tours, including one in Brazil where Roosevelt was in 1914, and others in Guatemala, Japan, and in the western US. 
If you did not receive, but wish to read, it is either now in the FONT website or soon will be: www.focusonnature.com
Please go to the link on the left-side of the home-page.

If you wish to read some previous Birdlines that you may not have seen, including the one in early September summarizing the "Irene Birds", scroll down the right-side of the home-page to the "Birdline" link.

Soon, this week, we will reach the mark of 1,300 photos of different nature in the FONT website, of mostly birds, but also mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles, amphibians, wildflowers, and more. We're now at 1,299. We'll let you know what number 1300 will be. We don't know that yet ourselves.                 

    
To Top of Page