New Season Evident

[Stuart Sparkman]

Hey I-Birders, 

    Harney, Juniper, and I enjoyed a bracing morning walk through Cherry Glen RA this morning (Saylorville Reservoir, Polk Co.).  Having just returned from a road trip vacation in the intermountain west, I found the difference was a stark one from the balmy days a mere two weeks ago when the warblers were fluttering through in a colorful stream.  In deference to the passage of the equinox, autumn was immediately apparent, heralded by copious WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, all of whom I had only had the barest hint of before our getaway.   

   Actually, the morning's first indication of the fall season was the spectacle of hundreds of FRANKLIN'S GULLS loafing on the lake's surface.  There were at least two hundred close enough to be surely identified, but I'm confident that the vast numbers of white birds further north on the lake were nearly all of the same species, meaning there could have been as many as 1000 or more.  Other nice finds back at the picnic grounds were YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER and BROWN CREEPER, both FOS.  A few warblers were working the pokeweed and other undergrowth in the thinned forest area near Shelter 4, including maybe 8 NASHVILLE WARBLERS and a single ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.  A second small flock was sighted along the road near the caretaker's campsite above Oak Grove RA, which also included several NASHVILLES, an ORANGE-CROWNED, and a single NORTHERN PARULA.  Too cold for raptors, but plenty of woodpeckers were about.  In all, it was a lovely sunny morning with a distinctly autumnal character. 

Good Birding, 

Stuart Sparkman

NW Des Moines