Words On Birds 09-27-24

Autumn is a Great Time to Go Birding
September 27, 2024
By Steve Grinley

     Fall migration is in full swing with many songbirds and shorebirds on the move at Plum Island. But it is a bittersweet time for local birders, and those of us who remember the loss of a birding icon of Plum Island, Doug Chickering. It was last September that Doug Chickering passed away. We lost a long-time friend and extraordinary birder, whose smile, enthusiasm, and willingness to share birds and the birding experience which was felt by all of us who knew him.

     Doug was truly the ambassador of Plum Island birding. His birding reports on Massbird, and in his book, “Reflections of a Golden-winged Warbler”, brought us descriptions not only of birds, but of the whole experience and excitement of birding. Plum Island birding hasn’t been the same without him.

     I shared so many of Doug’s stories with you in this column over the years (he was a much better writer than I), and I always received such positive comments on his writing. In Doug’s memory, I would like to share with you, again, his report of an especially good September morning from the island in 2010:

     “This morning it was clearly the fall end of September and not the summer end. It was cold. Not cold enough for gloves or enough to see your breath, but definitely this weather front had shed all vestiges of summer. I got to Plum Island just at sunrise and although I turned off the cars lights, everything was deep in shadows. I calculated that the sun would be just hitting the flat marshes at the Wardens so I headed there in hopes of getting a look at the reported Clay-colored Sparrow.

     “As I turned into the parking area, still in the shadows, a small tannish bird flew in front of me and landed on the rail fence along the edge of the parking area. The Clay-colored Sparrow. I had great looks, checking out all of the field marks, before it took flight and swept into the brush back towards the road. Now there was a good start.

     “The sun had risen high enough to illuminate the trees on the north end of the empty Parking Lot at Hellcat when I arrived, and immediately it was evident that there was a lot of activity here. Chickadees were flying back and forth, vocalizing, and there were Robins and Catbirds, and Towhees calling and flying. Shortly after I got out of the car, I spotted a small passerine up in the tree right in front of me, with look of a warbler. It popped up and into my binocular view and the first thing I realized was that it was a Warbler and had a bold eye ring. A Nashville? No, it had a brown hood with a light throat; not a blue head with a yellow chin. Now I am usually very cautious and I spent the next few minutes getting fleeting but good looks at this bird and always trying to convince myself as to what it was not. But everything; from the long underttail coverts, to the reddish gray light legs, to its size and shape and of course the eye ring, told me that I was looking at a Connecticut Warbler. Even though this bird was not at the eye level or below that; where I’m used to seeing it, and even though I had not seen more than a half dozen Connecticuts in my life, I had to conclude. I was getting killer looks at a Connecticut Warbler; foraging in the sun.

     “This was clearly the highlight of the day, and perhaps of the season, but it wasn’t the only great moment. There was, of course, the Clay-colored at the Wardens, a Lincoln’s Sparrow at the side of the road at Hellcat, the Western Sandpiper seen from the new blind, and four Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. I had the first Golden-crowned Kinglet of the season, a Golden Plover flyover, the first Junco’s of the season, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Parula, Blackpoll, a Creeper in the Old Pines a couple of Field Sparrows by the side of the road. And the music goes on and on.”