The weather during the beginning of this fall’s migration has been quite mild with only one major front passing through the region. Without much active weather, the passage of southbound passerines has generally been fairly quiet up to mid-September.
Once again, the Sourdough Nature Trail has been a fruitful location to find local rarities. Andrew Guttenberg found a couple during the first half of September. While walking the trail on September 2nd, Andrew found a male Chestnut-sided Warbler. Eleven days later, near the Gardner Park entrance, he had a brief encounter with a Blackpoll Warbler.
The other notable warbler of early September was the Blackburnian Warbler that Forrest Rowland discovered southeast of Manhattan on September 12th. Interestingly this warbler, which is typically seen feeding high in the forest canopy, was spotted foraging on the mud along a small stream course.
Pomarine Jaeger (allaboutbirds.org)
The rarest and most notable find in our area this August was a Pomarine Jaeger seen over the Madison Arm of Hebgen Lake. While fishing on August 18th, Jason Weckstein—who by happenstance is an ornithologist—spotted a dark gull-like bird flying toward the boat. Not expecting a rare pelagic bird while fishing Hebgen Lake, Jason had packed his flyrods but not his camera. Fortunately, the jaeger flew directly overhead within 30 feet. With such a close encounter he was able to note most of the pertinent field marks. He did have his binoculars and was able to watch the jaeger for another couple of minutes as it harassed some Ring-billed Gulls and buzzed the shorebirds that were on the mudflats at the upper end of the Madison Arm before disappearing. This close encounter was crucial, since the different species of non-breeding jaegers are notoriously difficult to identify.
The take-away from these last two bird sightings is to expect the expected, but be ready for the unexpected. This is one reason birding can be so enjoyable—because there are surprises just waiting to be discovered every day.
