A Very Short Outing - 02 Oct 2011


We made a quick drive to Lake Erie Metropark this morning. Clear skies and mild temps promised to bring a good Turkey Vulture migration at the hawk watch.  They did not disappoint.

By 9:30 am big numbers of thes behemoths kettled over Celeron Island and Canada, then streamed northward and overhead as they crossed the channel in front of the boat launch. 

The day's summary can be found at HawkCount:

Sadly, we had places to be so my time at the hawk watch was all of 7 minutes.  I did manage this composite of a soaring Broad-winged Hawk, however, before leaving.


The woods behind the Marshland Museum were fairly quiet until a large flock of White-throated Sparrows moved through.  A short time later a large flock of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) and Palm Warblers moved through.  Among them was a single female Western Tanager.  Note the reddish bill, and whitish lower wingbar and hint of a yellowish upper wingbar.  Both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers lack wingbars.  Thanks to Andy Johnson for pointing this out!


Lake Erie Metropark--Marshlands Nature Center, Wayne, Michigan, US
Oct 2, 2011 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     I made a quick drive to Lake Erie Metropark this morning. Clear skies and mild temps promised to bring a good Turkey Vulture migration at the hawk watch.  They did not disappoint.
6 species

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  14
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)  1
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  6
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  4
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)  1     Among a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers was a single female Western Tanager.  Note the reddish bill, and whitish lower wingbar and hint of a yellowish upper wingbar.  Both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers lack wingbars.  Thanks to Andy Johnson for pointing this out!

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42668688

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