17 September 2014. Cayuga ON. This must be a quick post, I’ve got far too much to do. But, today at the bird observatory I did the daily census as usual. It was a perfect, very late summer morning; coolish and dewy. Not many birds around for quite a while but at one corner I evidently intruded on the tranquility of family life for some Common Yellowthroats. They are common enough (as their name suggests) but that doesn’t distract in the slightest from their striking looks and endearing character. An on-territory male will always flit out to see what you’re up to and, with mild provocation, will click and chip at you for a minute or so while remaining almost out of sight. They rarely show themselves for more than a very few of seconds so they’re hard to photograph. However this morning one of this family group popped out to see what the fuss was all about (nothing really, just me walking by) and perhaps seeing nothing of particular interest just stayed where it was and allowed me to take a few pictures. For being so obligingly photogenic, it was my Bird of the Day.
We encountered many lovely migrants today; many warbler species: Magnolia, Chestnut–sided, Black-throated Green, Wilson’s and Blackpoll Warblers. Some of my favourites: Warbling, Philadelphia, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos and a few Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes. It was all very nice; about as good as it gets. Oh, and these two Song Sparrows were kind of charming
