Monhegan Migration Report No. 1: The Second Sunrise (Redux)

Yellow-headed Blackbird from September of 2014. Thanks to Don Reimer for the photo.

When we last left Monhegan Island, Maine, a year ago, this Yellow-headed Blackbird was flashing sunlight to birders across the island. Well, I’m back yet again to chase migrating birds here on Monhegan. And the first hot bird of the fall is yet another Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ruth and I spotted a first-year male (flashing white on the wing) soon after we arrived yesterday afternoon. He’s still around today, fraternizing with about two dozen Common Grackles.

Despite some north winds last night, it’s fairly quiet on Monhegan. We did bump into some of the usual mid-September migrants, including Philadelphia Vireos and Cape May Warblers, among other warblers. On the crossing from Port Clyde, we noticed a flock of Red/Northern Phalaropes (too distant to nail to species, at least for me). I’ll start a bird (and other critter) list, and post it among my regular updates while I’m here for the next two weeks. Here are past Monhegan posts. And that’s my crappy shot (in the fog at a distance) of this fall’s star blackbird about an hour ago. Here’s my better shot of this year’s bird from my deck above “The Meadow” here on Monhegan on September 14. Onward!