Fall Migrants at the Rea Farm - Saturday, September 13th, 2014

Falcons and accipiters are on the move and this morning's walk provided a prime opportunity to observe them both perched and in flight. A bird's wings tell you something about it's lifestyle as well as it's identity. With these birds it's fairly easy to see that falcons (Merlin and American Kestrel this morning) are relatively long-winged and short-tailed while accipiters (Sharp-shinned and Cooper's this morning) are relatively short-winged and long-tailed. Functionally this works because falcons are fast fliers that frequently dive for prey across open spaces while accipiters must maneuver through limbs and trees in the forest to capture the small birds that make up a large portion of their diet.   Leaders: Kathy & Roger Horn, Karl Lukens, Deb Payson, and Carrie Bell.
56 species

Canada Goose  14
Mallard  7
Great Egret  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Osprey  2
Sharp-shinned Hawk  3
Cooper's Hawk  3
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Laughing Gull  20
Herring Gull (American)  3
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  9
Mourning Dove  35
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  8
Belted Kingfisher  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  3
American Kestrel  4
Merlin  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  3
White-eyed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  12
Fish Crow  2
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  6
American Robin  5
Gray Catbird  4
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  40
Cedar Waxwing  2
Northern Waterthrush  2
Common Yellowthroat  5
American Redstart  1
Northern Parula  2
Yellow Warbler  1
Palm Warbler  1
Field Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  3
Indigo Bunting  1
Bobolink  12
Red-winged Blackbird  42
Common Grackle  18
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Baltimore Oriole  5
American Goldfinch  2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird [Photo by Roger Horn]

American Kestral [Photo by Roger Horn]