Got out to do some birding early this morning at Ashbridge's Bay from 7-8:15 or so, which produced quite a few birds as there appeared to be a push of migrants overnight. Only new species was a Yellow Warbler singing conspicuously near the marina, but there were many new individuals of existing species. This was the first morning that I would describe the Yumps as being abundant (i.e. going through each bird in a given flock actually took a while), and I found an additional Palm Warbler in the trees to the east of the marina, as well as the ongoing Black-and-White and Gnatcatchers. The small group of Lesser Scaup continues to hang about the marina, and there are still a couple lingering Long-tailed Ducks and Bufflehead. Two warbling vireos, but I dipped on the Blue-headed. Highest count of Caspian Terns yet this year (five), and of course every bush has its own White-throated Sparrow at this point.
Before calling it a day, I also walked over to the spit to quickly go through the wet woods. Most of the same as what was found at Ashbridge's Bay, with YRWA's being much more abundant than on previous days. Only "good" find of the day was a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks sitting completely still in the trees not too far from the parking lot. In any case, while we're all of course hoping to find a bit more variety, the migrants are coming!
Doug Clark
