5 November 2026

Wee Migrant

Friday, September 22nd, 2023
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 22 September 2023.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Subtle evidence of fall migration is upon is. For several days I’ve heard and/or seen Yellow-rumped Warblers; yesterday I heard a White-throated Sparrow note; today at least a dozen yellow-rumps flitted above me—and I spied a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.

In summer, yellow-rumps and kinglets tend to hang out in coniferous forests, so I typically only see them during migration. The last white-throat I saw or heard was in spring (they’re very good at hiding out in summer). Of course there’ve also been hawks moving through, and vultures.

Perhaps most telling: Tomorrow is the first day of fall.

Beech Hill List
Starting at 7:40 a.m. EST (8:40 DST), I hiked the wooded trails.

1. Northern Flicker (v)
2. Northern Cardinal** (v)
3. Red-eyed Vireo (v)
4. Hairy Woodpecker
5. Tufted Titmouse (v)
6. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
7. Blue Jay (v)
8. Black-capped Chickadee
9. Eastern Towhee (v)
10. Gray Catbird (v)
11. Yellow-rumped Warbler
12. Song Sparrow
13. American Crow* (v)
14. Downy Woodpecker
15. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Elsewhere

16. Herring Gull

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

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Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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