Sunday, May 29, 2011

The beauty of migration

Below is an account from the lighthouse keeper from Machias Island, which is situated 12 miles off the northeast coast of Maine. Its famous for its puffins. His account deals with a major fallout of warblers  dropping in like flies in dense fog May 24th. To get the whole incredible story, read on and click on the picture link to the keeper's blog (after clicking on the link , go to the bottom files "MAY 24th" )

The lighthouse keeper is describing the warblers landing on him:







"The wind drop and shift overnight seems to have encouraged heavy migrant movement. The movement through here was easily the largest this year and one of the largest that I've ever seen. The fog and rain showers prompted lots of fall-outs. There was a good mix of species including shorebirds and Gr. Blue Herons. Thrushes and Catbirds were noted but the mass was warblers. At one point, while on the light taking a few photos, I counted 15 warblers perched on me comprising 11 species. They feel odd when they cling to your beard or cozy down to sleep in your hair. A Blackburnian Warbler and Yellow Warbler squabbled for several minutes to see which would perch on my right index finger, both oblivious to the finger's movements as I took photos and made camera adjustments. Evenyually, both the warblers lost the apparent prime perch to a male Common Yellowthroat. That fellow kept his position for nearly a half hour, interrupted only briefly when I had to reach into my pocket a coup0le times. I bet that White Head is dripping warblers this morning." 15 Warblers perched on him????

Here's a link to a brief photo essay http://www.surfbirds.com/mb/Features/MSI2007/MSI2007.html

Wonder what the job pays - may get a little lonely out there but great birding :) Brian Hansen Milwaukee On Fri, May 27, 2011 at 9:14 PM, Mike McDowell wrote: > > >

http://www.pbase.com/lightrae/naturenb