The First Good Movement of Sparrows ~ October 1, 2026

I did a late morning check of the Newburg Road retention pond. The weedy edge around the pond held an amazing number of Savannah Sparrows. They were perched on the fence and in the saplings around the pond with groups of five or more flying in and out of the weedy areas.

Savannah Sparrows

The Greater Yellowlegs continued in the pond along with 7 Killdeer.

Greater Yellowlegs

The tiny wooded patch by the pond held a Gray Catbird. I walked across the street towards Koch Toyota to check the weedy field there and found even more Savannah Sparrows.

Savannah Sparrows

I took these three photos from the same spot and just adjusted the focus to show a close bird in the lower left, a middle bird in a sapling, and a far bird behind it.

A close Savannah Sparrow with two more distant birds in the upper right.

A Savannah Sparrow a little farther away in a sapling.

A more distant Savannah Sparrow just beyond that bird.

I conservatively counted at least 40 birds, but I really believe that there were more than 50 seen. It was the most Savannah Sparrows I've ever found at one site.

In the corner of the field, I noticed a Tennessee Warbler, my 118th species for the site.

Tennessee Warbler

Several Palm Warblers were also there, including one "western" bird.

A "western" Palm Warbler, which shows yellow only under the tail.

An "eastern" Palm Warbler, which is yellowish overall.

Soon after, a young White-crowned Sparrow popped up, which was my first one of the season.

A young White-crowned Sparrow.

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Connecticut Warbler at the Koch Property ~ September 30, 2026

I got a voicemail in the morning from Arlene Koch stating that she had a Connecticut Warbler in her front yard. I had struck out several times trying to find one this season. I wasn't able to get over there until the afternoon, so there was a chance of seeing it, but not a very good one. The feeders in her front yard were full of House Finches and some House Sparrows with an occasional visit from White-breasted Nuthatches. I spotted a warbler in the brush behind the feeders, but it turned out to be a Tennessee, which allowed me to get some nice photos of it.

Tennessee Warbler

I was checking all of the birds hopping around in the brushy areas surrounding the feeders when, there it was! The Connecticut Warbler had popped up, giving a nice look! Unfortunately, by the time I looked it over and raised my camera, it dropped back down into the brush. I stuck around for another half-hour, hoping that it might show again, but all bird activity shut down when a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in and perched in one of the nearby trees.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Other birds noted while there included Red-tailed Hawk, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Gray Catbird, and American Goldfinch. I thanked Arlene for letting me know and letting me come over to her home-made sanctuary.

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Little Gap and a Pond Run ~ September 29, 2026

It's getting late for a Connecticut Warbler, but I tried again this morning at Little Gap. It was still cool and cloudy as the nor'easter hadn't moved away far enough. I had no luck with the Connecticut, but I did see 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, an adult Bald Eagle, 2 Northern Flickers, an Eastern Phoebe, 2 Red-eyed Vireos and a Blue-headed Vireo, 3 Common Ravens, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Brown Creeper, a Northern House Wren, 5 Ovenbirds, a Scarlet Tanager, and warblers that included 3 Northern Parulas, 3 Cape Mays, a Black-throated Blue, and a Black-throated Green Warbler.

Eastern Phoebe

Scarlet Tanager

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Heading back home, I checked out the Regency Boulevard retention ponds, which held 2 Green-winged Teal, a Wood Duck, a Pied-billed Grebe, around 25 Tree Swallows and 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and around 20 American Goldfinches.

Green-winged Teal

Wood Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

The Trio Farms Boulevard retention ponds held a Double-crested Cormorant, a Pied-billed Grebe, and a Great Blue Heron among the Canada Geese and Mallards.

Pied-billed Grebe

Over at Green Pond, I found a Great Blue Heron, 2 Northern Flickers, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a male and a female American Kestrel, an Eastern Phoebe, 11 Blue Jays, 21 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, 9 Cedar Waxwings, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a Black-throated Green Warbler.

A male (left) and a female (right) American Kestrel.

A female American Kestrel.

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I also saw a Rock Pigeon that had a green band on its left leg.

A banded Rock Pigeon.

The last stop was at the Newburg Road retention pond where one Greater Yellowlegs remained along with 3 Tree Swallows.

Greater Yellowlegs

The grassy field between the pond and the hospital held 21 Killdeer and 16 Horned Larks.

Killdeer

Horned Larks

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