fall songbird migration

Yellow-rumped Warbler (After Hatch Year male) banded Tuesday. Photo by Blake Goll

This is the time of the season when banders are beginning to grow weary as a result of having been up with the birds since the end of August, faithfully following the fall songbird migration—now coupled with the double duty of studying Northern Saw-whet Owls by night. Though we are tired, I think we’ll all agree that there’s no greater contentment than being a part of Nature’s changing of the seasons; the goldenrod and other wildflowers have gone to seed and taken on their fuzzy winter coats, nights have grown quiet in the absence of crickets and katydids, and the Hunter’s Moon illuminates the rattling hedgerows and blue carpeted trails by night.
Mornings last week were cold and windy, but Tuesday was still productive. Banders pushed through their delirium and processed 47 birds of 17 species. The showstoppers were two gorgeous After Hatch Year male warblers, stunning even in their dull winter plumage: a Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) and a late Magnolia.

Magnolia Warbler (After Hatch Year male) banded Tuesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler (After Hatch Year male) banded Tuesday. Photo by Blake Goll

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is a hardy species that breeds in Pennsylvania and coniferous forests farther north. They can overwinter here in PA or south in the tropics. This common warbler can overwinter farther north than other warblers, owing to its ability to switch its diet from insects to waxy berries like bayberry and even poison ivy.

The rest of Tuesday’s catch was dominated by White-throated Sparrows and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. There were also good numbers of Palm Warblers, Eastern Towhees, and Purple Finches (PUFI). We can’t get enough of the PUFI’s as these erratic migrants are normally absent from our region. It is strange and wonderful to hear their rich, refined warbles raining down from the hedgerows of Rushton. Roger Tory Peterson best described this finch when he called it “a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.”

Palm Warbler banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Eastern Towhee (females) banded Tuesday. The one on the left is a Hatch Year and the one on the right is an After Hatch Year (notice the deeper red eye color?) Also notice the nictitating membrane (translucent third eyelid) half closed on the Hatch Year! Photo by Blake Goll

Northern Cardinal (female) banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Male Northern Cardinal banded on Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Banders aging an American Goldfinch on Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

An international class from Saint Joseph’s University visited us on Tuesday, including students from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Brazil, China, and Japan. They were captivated by these tiny birds and how we are trying to contribute to their conservation by studying their populations and movements across the landscape. We always enjoy hosting these students from around the world for their positive attitudes, genuine concern for these creatures, and unmatched enthusiasm.

Holly Garrod showing a Ruby-crowned Kinglet to St. Joseph’s University students. Photo by Blake Goll

St. Joseph’s University international student releasing a Song Sparrow on Tuesday. Photo by Blake Goll

St. Joseph’s University international student learning about a Field Sparrow before release. Photo by Blake Goll

Field Sparrow banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Cape May Warbler banded Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

As if we weren’t already a motley crew, banders donned their mismatch layers of winter coats, thrifted fleeces, alpaca fingerless gloves, and garish hats this week. Mornings dipped into the 30’s, and although the sun was (actually) shining bright, the brisk autumnal wind kept the temps suppressed. Banders and birders live for this kind of weather though, because riding in the dark on these cold north winds come oodles of southbound migrants.

Indeed, Tuesday set a record for our season thus far even though we kept two of our fifteen nets closed all morning due to the wind. Banders bared the cold and cranked through 65 birds of 19 species. We were thrilled to host some savvy birders from Birding Club of Delaware County who wisely chose this day to bird at Rushton, knowing this first cold front would have opened the migratory floodgates.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet before release on Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

The first Ruby-crowned Kinglets came en masse, and we are always amazed by these little flying nickels (they weigh little more than that). Thrushes abounded as well including Swainson’s, Gray-cheeked, and Hermit, and the array of warblers was astonishing— Tennessee, Palm, Yellow-rumped, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, and even a Common Yellowthroat still hanging around.

American Robin banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Swainson’s Thrush banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Yellow-rumped Warbler banded on Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Yellow-rumped Warbler banded Thursday. Photo by Blake Goll

Palm Warbler banded Thursday. Photo by Blake Goll

The stunner was our very first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! Even as a young hatch year bird, she still stole the show with her beautiful golden belly, her bark-like charcoal flecking, and her finely spotted red princess crown. As a more northern breeder, sapsuckers are only seen in our area during migration and winter. Sapsuckers drill small holes in trees with their sturdy bills to consume the sap and even the cambium of the tree. Other creatures can sip the sap at these sapwells, including bats, porcupines, and hummingbirds. In fact, some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds time their spring migration to parts of Canada with the arrival of sapsuckers.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker banded on Tuesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Northern Flicker banded Tuesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Wednesday was another cold and exciting morning with 52 birds of 16 species. The morning opened with a delightful suite sparrows — Field, Song, Swamp, and Lincoln’s— and Rushton’s first adult male Purple Finch! These finches have the most beautiful dusty rose hue to their feathers, like raspberry sorbet, pink velvet, and peonies.

Field Sparrow banded Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Swamp Sparrow banded Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Song Sparrow banded Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Lincoln’s Sparrow banded Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Purple Finch banded Wednesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Purple Finch banded Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll

Then came the morning’s fun puzzle, a confusing fall warbler species that Rushton banders had never had in the hand before. After happily poring over various warbler guides and bander references, we concluded that this was a first year female Cape May Warbler! She was beautiful with her delicate streaking and yellow auricular patches; breeding males are even more handsome with tiger stripes and chestnut cheeks. This is a fascinating and poorly understood warbler that breeds in the conifers of the boreal forest and winters in the West Indies where it sips nectar from a semi-tubular tongue that no other warbler has.

Cape May Warbler banded Wednesday. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Thursday saw the last of the Gray Catbirds, lots more warblers including another Blackpoll, thrushes and white-throats, and our first spunky Golden-crowned Kinglets. We processed 56 new birds, 7 recaps, and a total of 16 species. An additional handful of Purple Finches set another record for Rushton and validated the official finch forecast, which called for an irruption year. This means the pine cone seed crop up north was poor, so finches and other boreal seed-eating birds like Red-breasted Nuthatches will flood south for the winter. You’ll likely see Purple Finches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Pine Siskins at your feeders this fall and winter.

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

Blake

Late September is a thrilling time of abundance in the natural world. As more yellow leaves begin to hustle to the earth ahead of the equinox, the goldenrod finds its stride, and deep purple asters become more plentiful. Butterflies seem to be more omnipresent now than ever, energized by the late season nectar, and their caterpillars can be found hiding under every leaf and bud. Our catch mimics this floral and faunal flamboyance in species richness and numbers.
Even though we were rained out again on Tuesday just like last week, we more than made up for it. We had a great catch on Wednesday of 35 birds with the highlights including a radiant male Magnolia Warbler and a female Scarlet Tanager. Although tanagers nest in Rushton Woods, they are a rare catch because they tend to dwell in the tree canopy high above our nets. Tanagers dine largely on insects, but they also enjoy berries including blackberries, raspberries, huckleberries, serviceberries, mulberries, and strawberries. The only reason we caught this one is because we have a new net nestled in a grove of tall sumac shrubs; she was most likely feeding on the velveteen berries of the sumac. She will continue south, across the Gulf of Mexico, to her wintering grounds in South America.

Scarlet Tanager (After Hatch Year female) banded at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll

The view from our new net in the “tropical sumac forest”. Photo by Blake Goll

Yesterday, our catch was even more sensational — 47 birds of a dazzling 19 species! A handful of American Redstarts, a bushel of Black-throated Blues, lots of Common Yellowthroats and Ovenbirds, a Black-and-white Warbler, a vivid Tennessee Warbler, and the prized Connecticut Warbler. Wood Thrush migrants are now joined by their cousins, the Swainson’s Thrush and Gray-cheeked Thrush. The Gray-cheeked is the most northern breeding of our thrushes, nesting in underbrush near the edge of the arctic tundra, and is an infrequently seen skulker like the shy Connecticut Warbler.

Gray-cheeked Thrush banded at Rushton this week. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Connecticut Warbler banded at Rushton this week. Photo by Blake Goll

American Redstart (male) banded at Rushton this week. Photo by Blake Goll

Tennessee Warbler (Hatch Year) banded at Rushton this week. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Black-and-white Warbler (male) banded yesterday at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll

The other little surprise was a goofy young Yellow-bellied Flycatcher who kept his fuzzy eyelids tightly closed when in the bander’s grip in the hopes of tricking us into letting him go prematurely. I could see him peeking out from under those sneaky little lids though…you can’t fool me, you sly fly!

Yellow-bellied flycatcher banded at Rushton this week. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Last but not least, a couple of crazy cool cats made their debut — caterpillars, that is. A Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar was curled up in its silk day bed it had spun for itself in a spicebush leaf. We marveled at how incredible nature is for this caterpillar to so closely resemble a snake. The false eyespots on its thorax, coupled with the rearing up action, is enough to deter any sane bird from turning it into a spicebush twinkie.

Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll

Poisonous Saddleback caterpillar at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll

Tomorrow is our Open House from 6:30 am- 10 :30 am. We’ll welcome close to 80 people including University of Pennsylvania students, Rushton Nature Keepers, and everyone else throughout the course of the mayhem, I mean morning. We hope that all visitors leave feeling closer to nature.
There’s a lot going on in the woods,
Blake

Young male American Redstart just before release. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Northern Waterthrush banded at Rushton today. Photo by Blake Goll

The sallow leaves fell slowly through the visible cloak of humidity, dark silhouettes of jays pierced through the gray overhead, blood red berries on spicebush sparkled in the dew, and wet bumblebees sleepily clung to their violet thistle trundles. Crickets twinkled through the morning fog as big ripe walnuts thudded to the damp ground. Gazing out over the farm, I spied the bright cream-colored flowers of okra atop their tall green stalks, like a string of globe lights bringing cheer to the gloom. There were some birds around as well.

We caught 25 birds of only 8 species before cautiously closing early again at 9:30 am. The highlight was the Northern Waterthrush pictured above. A lover of wet bogs, forests, and streams, this sprightly tail-bobbing warbler can be found in backyards during migration on its way to Central America. We also caught our commoners including Common Yellowthroats, cute Carolina Wrens, Gray Catbirds, Wood Thrush, and American Robins.

Carolina Wren banded at Rushton today. Photo by Blake Goll

Holly showing how to release a young catbird. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

I love the photo below because it captures a different kind of “farm to table” (banding table, that is). These are our banding staff who also work tirelessly on the 6-acre farm of Rushton, helping to produce 30,000 pounds of sustainably grown food, annually. “In the face of today’s rapid population growth, you can’t do agriculture without conservation anymore,” said Lisa Kiziuk, Director of our Bird Conservation Program. “We just try to make sure that if you have to take land, at least it’s usable by wildlife.”

Our “farm to table” staff: Todd and Caitlin (pictured at the banding table aging a robin) also work hard on the farm for the rest of the day. Photo by Blake Goll

The way we do farming at Rushton is how they did it in the old days—leaving unkempt hedgerows and wild meadows surrounding the farm fields rather than clearing everything. Here, we leave space for the finches, salamanders, and caterpillars while satisfying the community’s appetite for food and feathers. If food is the entrée for connecting people to the wild as Lisa says, then I’d say birds are the amuse-bouche.

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

Blake

The Rushton banding crew was back at it this morning, collecting as much data as possible before the temperature exceeded the safe limit of 78 degrees. Although it is important to collect an accurate census of the migratory birds using our protected open space here in Willistown, it is even more important to us to keep each individual bird as comfortable and healthy as possible. Soon autumn will reign over summer, and the mornings will be crisp and cool— just what a fully feathered athlete prefers.
Even though we closed the nets over an hour early, we still caught 33 birds of thirteen species. It was a quality assortment containing little gems like the Magnolia Warbler pictured above, which is making its first journey from the boreal forest of northern climes to the mangrove forests of the tropics.

American Redstart banded at Rushton today. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

American Redstart banded at Rushton today. Notice the rictal bristles around the bill. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff.

Other interesting species included a scrappy young Eastern Towhee, one of the elusive Connecticut Warblers that elicit envy from listers (those nutty birders who keep life lists of species seen), a Canada Warbler, and a show-stopping adult male American Redstart. Redstarts flash their bright tails to startle insects out from hiding; the rictal bristles, specialized feathers around the bill, may also assist in snagging insects by helping the bird sense its orientation. The bristles do not actually capture insects, but are an essential sensory structure like a cat’s whiskers —if I dare compare cats to birds.
There’s a lot going on in the woods,
Blake

Young Wood Thrush banded at Rushton today. Notice the juvenal speckled feathers on its head. The speckled feathers on its breast are not indicative of age. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff.

Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year from sunrise to sunset, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. Willistown Conservation Trust owns and manages Hartman Meadow, Ashbridge, Kirkwood, Kestrel Hill and Rushton Woods Preserves. We maintain these lands to preserve and enhance … Learn more about our nature preserves.

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