Warblers Falling From The Trees - 18 Sep 2026

 

After a few days of clouds and rain the skies began to clear late afternoon yesterday (17 Sep 2026). This prompted a nice flight of Broad-winged Hawks (1970) just before quitting time for the Detroit River Hawk Watch. This morning skies were clear, winds were from the N at 5-10 mph, and forecasts called for a big flight of Broad-winged Hawks as it is their peak migration window. I picked a bad day to get my eyes dilated...

With an eye-doctor appointment set for noon I decided to at least see if I could find some warblers at Elizabeth Park. Arriving at 8:30 am I immediately ran into a nice flock in the center of the island woodlot. Among the first birds seen were a couple of Wilson's Warblers; unfortunately for me the light was low and the camera was refusing to focus on the fast-moving little guys. 

Once again the majority of warblers were Bay-breasted Warblers. 

With a dozen birds moving in every direction and height it was difficult to try to ID them. I tried JUST using binoculars but found that my best chance was to shoot photos and ID later. At least I could ID the Eastern Wood-Pewees that were among the flock.

Magnolia Warblers made appearances. The white eye-ring and yellow chests were enough to ID them, especially when they'd "flit" and flash their black-and-white tail bands.

Blackburnian Warbler was a nice find.

Chestnut-sided Warbler was also a nice find, but they stayed low and in the deeper parts of the woods next to the trails.

Northern Parula was one species I had to wait until I got home to ID; they were part of the spray-and-pray groups of warblers moving through the trees.

Black-and-White Warbler was easy to ID as they were foraging mainly along the trunks of the trees and hard to miss.

Philadelphia Vireo made an appearance.

As did several Red-eyed Vireo.

Surprise Scarlet Tanager in the canopy.

Tennessee Warblers were mixed among the Bay-breasted Warbler flock and only detected during post-processing (note the lack of wing bars).

Northern Flicker.

Once again the morning belonged to the Bay-breasted Warblers. Drab juveniles appeared overall tan with white wing bars, white-spotted undertail, black feet and dark line through eyes. Adults showed more of the streaked back and peach-colored flanks.

I finally got onto a Black-throated Green Warbler that kept popping into view, but only momentarily.

A Black-throated Blue Warbler (male) made an appearance in the understory. I chased it into the darkest parts of the woods but had to settle for severely-backlit photos.

As I was leaving a couple of American Redstarts were chasing each other through the trees overhead. Their yellow-and-black tails flashing made for an easy ID.

I would head home for my appointment, but kept an eye on HawkCount.org to see the progress of the Detroit River Hawk Watch. By 11 am they had 5000+ Broad-winged Hawks, and would the finish the day with 36,000 birds! Incidentally, Holiday Beach Hawk Watch would finish with 60,000 BWHA!!

I picked a bad day to get my eyes dilated...

Elizabeth Park (Trenton), Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 18, 2026 8:17 AM - 9:43 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.549 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Clear, calm, 61F
33 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  80
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  6
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)  1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)  1
Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus)  1
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)  2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  7
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  1
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  1
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  1
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  12
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  2
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)  1
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  2
Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea)  6
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)  1
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)  2
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)  3
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)  1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S393919310

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