I ended the second week of October finally getting a brief look at an Orange crowned Warbler after a lot of looking Unfortunately it was not cooperative for photos but some of the other warblers were a bit more accommodating. We had lots of rain overnight and the rain was forecast to come to an end before dawn and then get sunny but the rain continued for the first few hours after sunrise and it never got sunny. I initially tried Arcadia again but it was just too rainy so I headed through a muddy East Meadows before making a stop in Hadley where I turned up the continued Nelson's Sparrow before I finally came home. Wilson and I then went for a damp walk as the rain had been reduced to just some drizzle and mist. Once the walk was done I headed out again and stopped over to the nearby Herman Covey WMA. I walked through some weedy fields and turned up some warblers among the hordes of sparrows. I had a couple Common Yellowthroats, lots of Palm Warblers (including a 'western' Palm Warbler) and several Yellow rumped Warblers. After a lot of walking I finally had brief, but good looks at an Orange crowned Warbler that then promptly disappeared into the weeds and was not seen again. I would have liked some photos but just finding one was good enough for today. This becomes warbler species #47 for the year and likely the last one I will get unless a mega rarity shows up around here by the end of the year.
I had to work on the 13th so no birding beyond a quick early morning walk that turned up just a few warblers.
My last of three consecutive mornings at Arcadia started off foggy again but thankfully it burned off a little after eight and the rest of the day was sunny and pleasant. There was not a lot of migration the night before so no big influx of birds but I did have a couple new species I did not have the previous two mornings there with two Nashville Warblers and a Black throated Green Warbler. Other warblers included a high count of eight Common Yellowthroats plus the expected Palm and Yellow rumped Warblers. No luck once again in finding an Orange crowned Warbler.
On my second consecutive morning at Arcadia I arrived to a mainly fog free area after driving through intermittent fog the entire drive over. I had hopes for finding some sunny edges as the sun came up and warmed up the chilly morning but that was not to be. The fog fairly quickly settled in and stayed in place through my entire time there. I had just four species of warbler with a single Blackpoll Warbler with a growth on its face (tick, tumor or injury...who knows?) and a high count of nine Common Yellowthroats plus the expected Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers. After trying to wait out the fog at Arcadia I started my way toward home and made a few stops along the river in Hadley but the fog held firm and I didn't find too many warblers. The fog finally lifted late in the morning when I got home but I still failed to turn up anything noteworthy despite multiple additional stops.
On Monday I spent the first of three morning at Arcadia with the main goal being trying to turn up an Orange crowned Warbler for the year. Although I had nearly four hours there I had no luck with an Orange crowned Warbler but I did have some other good stuff. The highlight for sure was a Connecticut Warbler near the end of my time there. It was not my latest date for the species (which occurred last year when I had one through the 15th of October). I also had high counts of Common Yellowthroat and Palm Warbler for the day. I made a brief stop in the East Meadows on my way home but didn't find anything beyond the expected warblers there.
On the 8th I got out of work and made a few stops but didn't turn up too much in the way of warblers. I had a bit more luck on the 9th when I started my morning Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and had a slightly late American Redstart in a mixed flock. I then hit a few spots along the river in Hadley before returning to Silvio Conte NWR. My second stop produced some better photographic conditions and more warblers but nothing unusual.
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