Last night’s cold front brought with it several new migrants into the arboretum. This morning I found the following 8 species of warbler among these migrants: Nashville Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American Redstart, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Wilson’s Warbler. A “wave” is the term used when you come across a large group of warblers, often consisting of several species, migrating together. This is the first time that I have seen a warbler wave here in the fall; they are much more likely in May.
Other migrants this morning included Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Red-eyed Vireo. The majority of activity was in the vicinity of the willow stands lining the northern ponds.
The Mourning Warbler is a new species for Gustavus; it’s 150th bird species, in fact. To put things in perspective, 150 species have been seen on campus over the past 4 years. This is roughly one-half of all the bird species that regularly occur in Minnesota.
Thank you for sharing this. Being new to the species in the Gustavus Arb, I would love to see some pictures along with the blog entries. This will help educate those of us who are just learning! Thanks again!