Pre-storm @ LEMP - 06 Sep 2021
A large storm front was approaching from the west and we were supposed to get hit early this evening. The skies were slightly overcast but clouds were high. Winds were blowing enough to make the trees dance in the late afternoon heat. I decided to make a run to Lake Erie Metropark to look for warblers while Robin took a walk along the bike path.
Warbling Vireos were chasing each other at the west edge of the parking lot where I walked the trail across from the Marshland Museum entrance. A Connecticut Warbler was found by the Cyphers a day or two before so I spent some time looking and listening where the underbrush was heaviest along the trail heading west toward Riley Creek.
I didn't find anything, but a pair of American Redstart were a nice distraction as the trail wound northward along the creek edge. A Magnolia Warbler and several Bay-breasted Warblers filled the trees to my right while the now-blue skies were filled with hundreds of Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows (below).
I was lucky enough to grab a few pics of a Black-throated Green Warbler as it bounced through the foliage to my right.
As I gazed at the mini-spectacle a pair of Common Nighthawks blasted through the trees just below the tops of the canopy and darted in and out of view so fast that I couldn't even get the camera on them.
I stood and waited for them to circle around and make a second pass so that I could at least get a few frames as they appeared beautifully illuminated against the late afternoon sky. And I thought photographing swallows was tough...
As winds picked up I continued walking toward the Wyman's Canal Overlook hoping to maybe see an Olive-sided Flycatcher. I settled for an Eastern Phoebe and a few Eastern Wood-Pewees.
The nighthawks made another appearance flying low through the trees, and at one point I thought one was going to land on a tree branch. But, it instead fluttered momentarily next to the branches and then reversed course and dodged branches as it made its way back into open skies. Very cool!
Lake Erie Metropark--Marshlands Nature Center, Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 6, 2021 6:00 PM - 6:40 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Storms approsching from west but still sunny
10 species
Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 2
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 1
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) 2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 70
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 60
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) 1
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) 1
Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea) 3
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
