Eight men and women with binoculars smiling at the camera with the trees of the sanctuary behind them.

by Vinod Babu, COS board member

Eight birders joined me on our COS bird walk to Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary on Friday, Oct. 4. Rain had just let up and it was a cool, overcast morning that grew progressively warm and sunny. We were hoping the day would yield some of our late-fall migrants, chiefly sparrows, kinglets and creepers, and we were not disappointed!

As we gathered at the entrance, Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows greeted us with their various high-pitched contact calls. We tracked down some of these birds in the meadow west of the preserve. We expected that this grassy area dotted with low hawthorns would be a good feeding area for these birds, and so it was. White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows mingled with the occasional Hermit Thrush and Purple Finch on the grass, while Black-capped Chickadees, kinglets, creepers and a mewing Yellow-bellied Sapsucker worked the trees. The low branches of the hawthorns provided quick cover, which they needed very much. A Merlin surveyed the area from the tallest dead tree within Montrose Point, and a pair of Cooper's Hawks continually patrolled the area. We surmised it was a male-female pair and watched as the male repeatedly dashed across the open spaces of the preserve, perhaps hoping to startle a prey item into flight.

Large brown hawk with white breast, wings outspread, soaring against trees. — Red-Tailed Hawk. *Photo by Sam Hogenson*

After taking our time observing sparrow field marks, we walked into the preserve, observing and hearing kinglets and creepers at every turn. One of the participants wondered about the purpose of the constant contact calls, and we discussed the importance of those, especially for species like Golden-crowned Kinglets. These hardy birds winter so far north that they only survive winter nights by roosting together, for which they need to be in constant auditory contact with their flock during their frantic daytime foraging. Some of the astonishing adaptations kinglets possess to ensure their winter survival are described very well in this article.

Venturing deeper into the preserve yielded more species—we tried to differentiate the chip calls of an Orange-crowned Warbler from those of a Common Yellowthroat, both eventually observed, and visually differentiated the Orange-crowned Warbler from a nearby Tennessee Warbler. The Tennessee Warbler turned out to be a very confiding bird, slowly working each leaf of a dogwood branch just feet from us.

Small bird with olive back, white throat and belly, gray wing edges and white eyebrow perched among leaves. — Tennessee Warbler. *Photo by Sam Hogenson*

It was also here that we ran into our first big mixed-species feeding flock. This one was built around a few Black-capped Chickadees and included creepers, both kinglet species, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Nashville and Tennessee warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Swamp Sparrows, Eastern Phoebes and even a Downy Woodpecker. We were content to stand about and pick out whichever birds caught our attention. Participants were exhorted to pay attention to chickadee groups in fall and winter—these resident species are often accompanied by our winter visitors as they forage.

After having our fill of the flock, we made our way to the pier. All we had was a Herring Gull picking at a carp in the water, but when we turned around, we were entertained by the antics of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk obsessively harassed by the smaller of the Cooper's Hawk pair. When the Cooper's Hawk left, the Red-tailed Hawk turned into the wind and kited steadily, staying motionless with little effort.

We made our way back to the preserve, adding a few more species—Winter Wren, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Eastern Towhee. The group disbanded, feeling like we had gotten the best possible selection of winter arrivals we could have expected for early October!

Field Trip: Montrose Sanctuary and Dunes