Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
September was still slow, but I did get a few new birds! Birds have been migrating through, but quite sporadically. In the spring you can time when they’ll be here because of the weather, and you get a big push of birds all at once. In the fall, they trickle through, each bird choosing when they want to migrate, the weather not influencing them as much. You see a few here and there but nothing like the influx of birds during “Warbler Season” in May. Fall migration also has more challenges than spring migration; like more leaves on the trees and quieter birds. In the spring the woods are full of birds calling and singing as they look for mates, but in the fall they’re considerably quieter so you can’t bird by ear as much. We had a few cooler days pushing the Warblers through faster, but overall the weather in September has been great for getting outside, even a little warm on some days! Trees are still holding onto their leaves making seeing birds a little tricky, but my last three outings of the month produced, adding three new birds to my Big Year list and bringing me to 180 species! Just three more months of the year left to see what else I can add to my list. Here are some excerpts from my Birding Nature Journal this month: Friday, September 10, 2021 I went back to the Izaak Walton Wetlands this morning and I got my first new species since July! It was a Chestnut-sided Warbler! The Warblers and Vireos have been hard to spot/ID lately because of all the tree cover. This Warbler gladly showed off the chestnut colored flanks so I knew who I had! Monday, September 20, 2021 This morning I was back at the Rock Dell WMA. At the beginning near the woods, I saw two birds flying so once they landed, I quick got them in my binos so I could see who it was. The bird was backlit from the sun, but I could see it had red on its head. So, I walked a little more down the path to get a better view, and it was a Red-headed Woodpecker! This bird has been eluding me this year! Not only was there one, but there was also a juvie with it! They even called back and forth to each other giving me a show. Later as I was heading back to my car, I looked at a hole in a tree with my binos and there was a Red-headed Woodpecker looking back out at me! Such a fun way to see this bird! Thursday, September 30, 2021 I squeezed in one more day of birding this month with a short hike out at Rock Dell WMA. In the prairie there were some birds flitting about eating the seeds from prairie plants. They were hard to see but I got a few good glimpses. Luckily, there were a few that came closer and were calling to each other so I could get a positive ID of a Lincoln’s Sparrow! September Birds: (The first number represents the number of species for the year, the number in parenthesis represents the number of species for the month) September 10 – Izaak Walton Wetlands, Rochester, MN 178. (1) Chestnut-sided Warbler September 20 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 179. (2) Red-headed Woodpecker September 30 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 180. (3) Lincoln’s Sparrow* Birds Species this Year: 180! Species for September: 3 Days Birded this Year: 82 Days Birded in September: 6 Lifers in September: 1 (Birds with an (*) are Lifer Birds) Read my other Big Year related posts by clicking the button below.
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