All during the never-ending nor’easter of late September, when I wasn’t thinking about all the seabirds it was bringing in, I was thinking about all the songbirds it was keeping out. A weeklong gale in peak fall migration, full of winds that songbirds don’t want to fly in, can create a logjam of migrants. The north woods must have been like Logan Airport in a blizzard – nothing but cancelled flights. If I was doing my job as a bird reporter, I would have looked ahead at the wind forecast and told you to get out and look for newly arrived warblers, sparrows, and other small woodland fare at the end of last week’s piece, but, alas, I failed you.
And so, because of me, you were ornithologically unprepared when the logjam finally broke the middle of last week. I first noticed the new arrivals in my neighborhood early Wednesday morning, the first day after the winds switched to a more migration friendly northwest. I could hear warbler flight calls, little lisping notes they typically give during nocturnal migration, as they streamed northwards from their likely arrival points at the elbow of the Cape. They often continue to give these contact calls into the morning as they reorient after an all-night flight. On a clear fall night with light north winds, listen for these faint calls overhead, betraying the otherwise invisible river of tiny travelers moving south in the dark.
I missed several of the warblers, just darting shapes in the poor light, but caught up to a few – Bay-breasted, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Nashville. These were all in the relatively subdued plumage of fall warblers, the confusing drabness of which has driven many a new birder mad. But the male Black-throated Blue Warbler flitting along the sunny edge of my neighbor’s yard was stunning. Even immature males of this species are in high plumage in fall, breaking up the monotony of dull yellow-green among its compatriots.
Thursday brought a few more – a Tennessee and another Black-throated Green, multiple Northern parulas, plus a couple of Blue-headed Vireos. But I was of course just seeing a tiny piece of what was moving though. Wednesday was so busy at the Wellfleet Bay sanctuary songbird banding station the staff had to work overtime, with highlights including a Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Clay-colored and Lincoln’s Sparrows, Scarlet Tanager, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Fort Hill in Eastham was busy with new migrants both days – at least 17 species of warbler and an unheard of 6 species of vireo, including birder-friendly rarities like a Bell’s Vireo, Mourning Warbler, and a Lark Sparrow. On a Cape Cod Bird Club walk to fall migration hotspot High Head in North Truro on Thursday participants were practically swatting away songbirds, with double digit counts of vireos and warblers, and multiples of crowd favorites like Scarlet Tanager and Tennessee Warbler. Representing the songbird eating guild, a Peregrine Falcon and a Merlin kept both birds’ and birders’ heads on a swivel.
It may not have been the avalanche of birds we could have gotten when a week of pent-up migration is suddenly released, but anyone out looking last week was likely rewarded with some of fall’s finest offerings. If you missed it, there could be some new arrivals right now, as last night’s light northwest winds were perfect for migration. The confusing fall warblers may be maddening, but a walk in search of birds is probably better than whatever’s scrolling by on your phone, and definitely better than a trip to the gas station.
