9/16/2019 - 9/22/2019
Not to sound alarmist, but something is definitely wrong. I'd say the problem lies with me, but I've talked to a number of birders, and it's a common theme. The migrants are not showing up.
I spent a decent portion of the week working from home. I work facing the feeders and backyard area of my house. So, I've had a decent opportunity to at least watch for migrants while I work. My yard usually attracts a handful of species, and, to be honest, it wasn't terrible through much of this week. I've had a few Blackburnian, some Black-throated Green, and Yellow-throated and Bay-breasted Warblers. A Northern Parula even showed up one day. Throw in an Eastern Phoebe and a Eastern Wood-Pewee, and things didn't seem awful. I put in some extra hours through the week and used the time to slip out to Eagle Creek Park on Friday morning. I wanted to get out before the weekend hit. I roll my windows down when I roll into the park. It always gives me a preview of how things are going to be before I even get started birding. Friday was silent. I went back on Saturday and Sunday, too. Silent and, again, silent. Out of the three mornings spent in the park, I had less than 10 warblers. Today, I had a single Black-and-white Warbler in a distant tree top. Even Swainson's Thrush are fairly uncommon. A front moves through today, and I'm hoping that things pick up. It has been fairly warm, and the weather has been pretty nice. Maybe things are just getting a late start.
Here are a few migrants from my back yard.
Here are some of my shots from Eagle Creek Park over the three days. Honestly, I had very little luck for spending three mornings there.
I also spent a little time this week setting up a water feature in my backyard. There's not much to it, and I have to set it up again every day. The raccoons destroy it every night. I've not really dedicated time to getting many photos at it. More to come on this project. A few photos in the meantime, though.
Thanks for reading,
Mike
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