2013 and beyond

It's pretty simple: the most birds seen or heard from one's yard during 2013 will be the "winner". Want in? O.k....then do it despite that.

2013 promises to be a lot less mean but still a carbon-free birding competition, even if slightly less exciting than a MEGA x EPIC hybrid.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

You must see it to believe it

It is becoming difficult to express how crazy the bird bath "deluge" is becoming in my yard. Today, as it grew to the usual 7 birds, I got the camera ready and started snapping away, only to realize that suddenly there were at least 12 birds in the bath SIMULTANEOUSLY! Just watch the video:


The actual total was at least 15 individuals, with 14 visible in this still frame:

In my entire birding life I have never witnessed so many warblers shoulder to shoulder- if anyone has, please let me know when and where it happened, as well as what species were involved, and whether it was in a water feature like mine.

Also, today witnessed a resurgence in the species diversity of warblers, with the following being tallied:

Cape May- 1
Bay-breasted: 1
Black-throated Green- 2
Ovenbird- 1
Redstart- 1
Nashville- 5 simultaneously
Tennessee- 12 simultaneously
Magnolia- 1

Other interesting species:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 1 FOS
Horned Lark- daily

and a couple bonus photos:
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2 comments:

  1. Rick BrighamSeptember 23, 2009 at 10:40 PM

    That's an absolutely crazy scene! The only instances I have ever witnessed warbler concentrations of this number have been all in one tree or bush, but never, as you say, "shoulder to shoulder". My take on this is that you have created an oasis in just enough of an urban landscape to be attractive. My water feature on the other hand is in a setting of several acres of second growth woods and fields and my sense is that the migrants disperse far more as a result. Glad to see you still are getting Tennessee and Bay-breasted as they haven't stopped by here yet.

    BTW - Sean, I am still not able to manage my numbers on the side bar. It looks as if I haven't been given that administrative capacity. For instance when I go to the dashboard there isn't an option for "layout" to choose from.

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  2. Sean FitzgeraldSeptember 23, 2009 at 11:01 PM

    Absolutely ridiculous Caleb!
    I think the only thing approaching thisthat I witnessed was at a site in the middle of the rainforest in southern Thailand where a guide led us to a known bathing location. At this spot, the stream slowed and did a horseshoe bend with lots of small branches hanging into and near the water where I saw probably 40+ individuals of at least 15 species (including some very reclusive and canopy species - also my only Green Broadbill). I will never forget it, but yeah I concur that I've never witnessed more than 3 or 4 warblers bathing together at one spot...

    Also Rick - you are correct you didn't have admin privileges, I changed that and you should be all set to go.

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