Mondays With Mike #6 - Time of Transition, 10/13/25

On our 6th Mondays with Mike walk on 10/13 we continued to witness a transition from early fall migrants like warblers and vireos, to our later fall migrants like sparrows, kinglets, and sapsuckers.  This overlap resulted in quite “birdy” conditions as we encountered large mixed flocks principally before 10 AM.  Twice as we were surrounded by large flocks I realized that the 5 of us had our binoculars trained on birds in completely different directions.  At times there were just too many birds to focus on!

Among our 49 species we ended with 10 warbler species, including surprisingly high numbers of Bay-breasteds.  But overall warbler numbers were lower than on previous walks.  But not to worry, these woodland birds were being replaced by calling (and singing!) Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, and increasing numbers of Yellow-rumps.  Plus, we’re starting to see greater numbers of Song, White-throated, and Swamp Sparrows in the open brushy areas.  Not to mention good numbers of Sapsuckers that have returned for our cooler months. 

The eBird checklist for the walk can be found here:  ebird.org/checklist/S279190728

Through 6 walks our Mondays with Mike series has tallied 101 total species, including 26 warbler species.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Patrice Bouchard