Birding On A Cool Fall Morning

Even with the cooler temperatures, there are still at least three hummingbirds hanging around my feeder. I took all but one feeder down for the winter. I'll keep a feeder going throughout the winter with the hope that a Rufous Hummingbird or other western hummingbird will find me.

I went walking in the woods for a little bit this morning. The mosquitoes weren't nearly as bad today. That was a welcome relief! I did find four FOS birds today. A Chipping Sparrow was in my backyard. I haven't seen him down at the feeder yet, but he'll be there at some point. Down in the woods, we found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was in a tree in the pasture. He flew right above us giving us some great looks at him. A Belted Kingfisher alerted us to his presence with his rattle call and we watched him fly overhead. As far as neotropical migrants, they were non-existent down there. This is the worst year for fall migration that I can remember since we've been here.

Birds Seen 10/19/09 (23 species): Cattle Egret, Sharp-shinned Hawk (FOS), Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher (FOS), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (FOS), Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Chipping Sparrow (FOS), Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow