I arrived at Jericho Park way too late on this beautiful autumn morning, but in spite of my tardiness, there were still birds waiting for me. The bright sun had wakened insects all over the park, and so the flocks were not as concentrated as they had been yesterday, but I still ran across a nice batch or two of migrant parulids, including Black-throated Gray, Yellow, and Orange-crowned Warblers. I’ve been interested these past few days to see just how gray-headed most of the orange-crowns are; I assume that even the most obviously hooded birds are “just” of one the western races, as I think celata moves pretty strongly east on its southward journey.
Sparrows seem to be building, too, with Lincoln’s Sparrow far the commonest today. And a chuckle and a flash of yellow revealed a female Western Tanager trying to hide in a flock of White-crowned Sparrows. Tomorrow may be another exciting day–for those who can get there early, at least!
