September 5 2012. Ruthven Park, Cayuga, ON. At the bird observatory this morning we enjoyed a wide variety of birds, both seen and/or banded. They included: Philadelphia, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Black-throated Green, Magnolia and Wilson’s Warblers as well as single Northern Parula, American Redstart and Nashville Warbler. Quite a day.
We also faced two of the toughest fall identification challenges: Bay–breasted and Blackpoll Warblers. (See photo and comment here) They and the Pine Warbler taken together, look very much alike at this time of year, which is utterly maddening because there’s no way you’d confuse them in the spring. All three species undergo a late summer molt to become a non-descript beige-breasted-streaky-backed-wing-barred-warbler, which puts them firmly in the I-give-up category for many bird enthusiasts.
Down by the river a young Bald Eagle was stirring things up sending a bunch of Killdeers and a small group of terrified ducks dashing for cover. The eagle, indifferent to the chaos he’d left behind, flew off upstream and in the calm that followed we enjoyed the company of two or three Ospreys, a pair of Belted Kingfishers, some patrolling Caspian Terns and even a couple of Double–crested Cormorants.
Later we spotted the ducks gathered on a mid-stream gravel bar. Unsure of what they were we approached them slowly and managed to get a number of photos before they once again flew off in a panic. In the short moments we had them in our sights we could tell they were Blue-winged Teal. I was pleased to see that my quick-fire photos turned out quite well. Blue-winged Teal are easily identified when you see a male in breeding plumage, but this is the wrong time of year for that, so the key field marks are a long, low profile, long flattish bills, white crescent over the eye and a pale patch at the base of the bill. And when they flew away the wide wing patches of blue bordered with bright white were easy to see. The teal were quite unexpected and really quite refreshing, so despite the competition from all those challenging migrant warblers they were my Bird of the Day.
