At 2:15 this afternoon, an adult male Townsend's Warbler flew northward past
the hawkwatch platform at Kiptopeke State Park. It landed just beyond the
nearest picnic shelter. Four of us (Bob Anderson, Steve Thornhill, Betsy
Foster, and I) went over and looked for it, playing a little pygmy-owl tape
when we didn't see it right away. We were incredulous to hear the bird sing
its FULL SONG four times from the pines next to the shelter. Apparently, it
continued its northward (reverse) migration, as we were not able to re-find
the bird over the next 45 minutes. There are two other area records of this
species, but this is the first adult male. Adult warblers of most migrant
species are massively outnumbered by hatch-year warblers in fall in
Northampton County, so seeing a typical adult male Townsend's with black bib
was astonishing. The very odd frontal passage (with gale-force WSW winds
from Wednesday night through Thursday night - we normally have NW winds at
this time of year with frontal passage) may be responsible for the
appearance of this bird, though at least 4 have been reported to our north
in recent weeks.
This autumn has been the least "typical" of the past 15 I have monitored
here. Many, many earlier migrants are still present - Blackpoll Warblers
are still in double digits daily, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Prairie
Warbler, Wood Thrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Yellow Warbler were
all noted today at Kiptopeke, among others. One bird club also found a
Golden Eagle there, though it did not pass the hawkwatch!
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, Va.
