A Nice Fallout of Birds ~ October 3, 2022

Once the rain let up, I headed over to the woods edge at the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. There, I found a nice little group of birds comprised of 2 Eastern Wood-Pewees, 2 Eastern Phoebes, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, an Indigo Bunting, 5 White-throated Sparrows, and warblers that included a Common Yellowthroat, a Northern Parula, 6 Black-throated Greens, 3 Blackpolls, 2 Yellow-rumpeds, a Magnolia, and my third Wilson's Warbler of the season at this area.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

White-throated Sparrow

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

One Savannah Sparrow posed for a photo at the field edge.

Savannah Sparrow

Over at the north pond were the continuing Blue-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, and Pied-billed Grebe plus a Lesser Yellowlegs.

Blue-winged Teal

Hooded Merganser

Lesser Yellowlegs

At least four pretty late Barn Swallows and a couple Northern Rough-winged Swallows were zipping around among about 30 Tree Swallows.

Barn Swallow

It began to rain lightly as I drove over to the Newburg Road retention pond. When I got to the tiny wooded patch at the northeast corner of the pond, I came across a nice fallout of birds. There were birds flitting in all directions. The majority of them were Palm Warblers. I saw at least a dozen, but there were probably more than that.

Three Palm Warblers

A Blackpoll Warbler (top) and two Palm Warblers (right)

Among them were a Blue-headed Vireo, a Magnolia Warbler, 2 Blackpoll Warblers, 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and 5 Common Yellowthroats.

Blue-headed Vireo

Magnolia Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Chipping Sparrow, and a Scarlet Tanager were also seen in the trees.

Chipping Sparrow

Scarlet Tanager

The walking path along the large overgrown field and a row of small spruces produced a Northern Flicker, 2 Eastern Phoebes, a Brown Thrasher, and 2 Field Sparrows.

Field Sparrow

Brown Thrasher

Nine Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over the field area around the pond, which held about 30 Horned Larks and 12 Savannah Sparrows while an American Kestrel hunted nearby.

Savannah Sparrow

American Kestrel

My last stop was Green Pond. A Nashville Warbler and a Red-eyed Vireo were in the brushy woods edge by the gravel parking area along Farmersville Road. I got a very quick look at an "Empidonax" flycatcher before it flew out of sight. The bird was very grayish with obvious wingbars, but I never got a good look at the head. My guess is that it was a Least Flycatcher, but I'll never know for sure.

Nashville Warbler

I walked the area at the intersection by Green Pond and found 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, and 3 White-throated Sparrows. The surprise here was a Lincoln's Sparrow that I found at the edge of the cornfield along the small pond beside the house at the intersection. Unfortunately as if often the case with this species, the bird dropped down and disappeared into the brush.

A group of 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew overhead, and a Pied-billed Grebe was in the retention pond along Green Pond Road with 2 Canada Geese.

Pied-billed Grebe

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