September was an exciting birding month. Sadly, I continued to be without my camera. That was quite unfortunate, since I had some stunning up close views of warblers which would be great to capture. Alas, no pictures to spruce up this blog post!
The numbers, of course, did not quite reach those of May, but they got pretty close! I saw 113 species in September, added 14 year birds, and notched 5 lifers.
I went out to Leamington to try to find some reported Buff-breasted Sandpipers. I struck out on that but got my 200th bird species for Essex County in 2018-an American Golden Plover! 200 was a big milestone for me, especially since I narrowly missed reaching it last year. My North America year total stands at 230.
The lifers this month were Cackling Goose, American Pipit, Philadelphia Vireo, Connecticut Warbler, and Mourning Warbler–all of which I have been seeking out for some time.
Other highlights from this month include: a much more hawky visit to Holiday Beach Hawkfest than last year, an early Ross’s Goose and my second ever Cackling Geese at Jack Miner’s, a lifer American Pipit, another yard flyover of Broad-Winged Hawks, and some new yard bird species (Forster’s Tern, Double-crested Cormorant, Northern Flicker, and Great Blue Heron).
Reaching 200 species in Essex this year has taken the steam out of some of my goal-driven approach, but there are still some birds that I’d really like to see. I hope to find the following in October/November:
- Golden Eagle (year bird)
- Red-shouldered Hawk (year bird)
- Rough-legged Hawk (already have one this year, but it’s a sweet hash to see)
- Greater White-fronted Goose (another one I always love to see, even if I already have one for the year)
- Orange-crowned Warbler (lifer)
Of course, there are many other birds I’d love to find, but these are the ones which I will be most actively seeking.
Good birding!
