Date: 10/17/26 4:26 pm From: Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
Almost all birds were low or on the ground, probably due to high winds and stripped trees of foliage.
Bob
On Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 06:21:54 PM CDT, Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> wrote:
Bob-
Yes, I hope it proves to be consistent and that many other people end up experiencing and enjoying it. Morning flight is something of an acquired taste, most appealing to those who enjoy a spectacle and/or yearn to understand more about migration.
If things go as at South Pt, temperate wintering species will now become dominant, and flights will continue fairly regularly with fall cold fronts that produce needed wind trajectory (N or NE for Navarre), which become progressively more common as the fall progresses. The big ticket species will be Yellowrumps and (in Nov) robins, with big counts of waxwings in good waxwing years. In years with siskins or other finch movements, they can be a big part as well. And other trophy birds turn up in the late season flights as well.
Tomorrow the winds turn more easterly (NE), and upwind flight will hopefully run birds into the Escambia bay shore upon which they will deflect upshore (I did not target that for this morning bc winds were essentially due N at dawn so upwind flight would not have led birds into the shoreline). I hope to be able to try somewhere on the west side of Escambia Bay (much closer to me than Navarre!) to see if anything parallel to what I saw at Mobile recently also happens there.
Only your Palms were in the grass, right, or was it some sort of migrant wreck?
Also, regarding your paucity of YRWA : it is pretty routine at South Pt for a species to dominate a morning flight there and occur in the 100s or 1000s while on the same morning being in inconspicuously small numbers at traditional migrant traps nearby. A lot of those instances involve the earliest arrivals of a species, such that South Pt gets a big flight of a species right around its usual FOF date, before any appreciable influx is evident elsewhere.
Good birding.
PY
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2026 3:30 PM
To: <albirds...> <albirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration Hi,
I walked out to the street with this NNE wind about 30 -- 35 mph blowing this morning around 9 a.m. (now down to about 25) to find what grass wasn't covered up with storm debris loaded with W. Palms, not tired. Also mixed in were Magnolias, Blk-thr Greens, Redstarts, Orange-Crs, Tenns, Parulas in smaller numbers, only two Yellow--rumps. All told, 10 warbler spp. Looks like you found a new place to bird, Peter. Slacking off this afternoon.
Bob Duncan
On Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 02:07:08 PM CDT, Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> wrote:
Birders:
I birded the eastern extremity of the Pensacola Bay complex (and the Gulf Breeze peninsula) for 2 hours this morning, and was treated to a morning flight at a pace of 1000-1500 birds (nocturnal migrant species) per hour heading east up the bay shore. I estimate 90% Yellowrumps.
Other birds seen in the movement or in the vegetation included Y-b Cuckoo, Rose-br Grosbeak, Magnolia and Palm, Red-eyed Vireo, Catbirds, Harrier and Kestrel (four AMKR moved up the bayshore with the morning flight).
Some notes-
The best spot for skywatching to count these flights appears (so far) to be the Tom King Bridge on East Bay Boulevard, but the birds there are largely distant. The flight corridor this morning spanned perhaps a full mile width, with the bridge in the middle. This is also where I was standing to count the 3000 robins on the November morning last fall. There is no parking at the bridge, so I parked my vehicle on the nearby powerline cut.
The best spot for seeing the morning flight reasonably close and front lit, that I could find, is the parking lot of Dollar General at 6795 East Bay Boulevard, Navarre. Face toward the bay. I did not speak with staff there yet, but drew no negative attention. Of course, it would be thoughtful to buy something to show appreciation for using their lot (and who doesn't want a snack?).
The flight lines are likely to shift closer and farther from the bay shore depending on wind direction etc, on other days.
For traditional birding, there is a small local park consisting of trails cut below a brushy power line not far from the bridge. It is north of East Bay Boulevard, accessed from Avenida de Galvez just west of Galvez's X with Calle de Cortez. It has been birdy on my handful of visits to the area, including this morning. A yellow-billed cuckoo northbound along the cut missed me by inches, startling us both. On a couple other mornings I have also walked Galvez and its connecting streets birding (it has beautiful forest, lots of live oaks), and the folks I ran into (there are lots of people doing morning strolls here) were all friendly. They tell me they see bears in their yards and hood regularly (from the nearby Elgin population), and that their hood has a strange mix of very white squirrels amongst the normal gray ones. I did see one of these on a previous visit. This was very close to ground zero for Isaias, and the residential roadsides are currently piled high with woody debris awaiting pickup.
This is all about 8 miles east along the bay shore from where the Duncans reported that Jeff Madsen witnessed some eastward warbler movement this past week. I mentioned then that eBird had a 1000 Palm Warbler flight for the peninsula bay shore as well; turns out it was 10/14/22, and was by Jeff M as well. Here are his eBird comments for Palm Warbler that day:
huge flight of these birds moving west to east early in the morning, just over treetop level, just streaming over in waves for over an hour. some stopping on the grass in our yard to quickly forage, most kept moving, at times there were 20+ individuals on the grass at one time. I'm sure other things were mixed in, but all were warbler sized/shaped and most showed the white tail corners when observed with binoculars
I tried hard to find Palms among the YRWA this morning, enough to be sure they were really YRWA dominating and not PAWA. Of course, there could have been PAWA mixed in (and other warblers; my sample for species composition was relatively small since it took me a while to find best spot for viewing).
Interesting by way of comparison, birders at South Pt in New Orleans this morning had a flight of similar volume (2000 in 2.5 hrs) that was dominated by YRWA and INBU. We are in the INBU peak, so I was a bit surprised INBU did not make up more of the Navarre flight today. Yellowrumps will peak in mid-late November (based on peaking then at South Pt).
I would love to hear any other observations of morning flight here or elsewhere in our region! Please post!
Peter YaukeyFerry Pass, FL
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
--
Lucy and Bob Duncan
Gulf Breeze, Florida
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...>
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2026 6:57 PM
To: Albirds <ALbirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
| | You don't often get email from <kclemo54...> Learn why this is important | |
Oh, no! Lucy, I am so sorry about your wharf! There are so many idiots out there that shouldn't be allowed to own boats. What is your address? We were looking at Gulf Breeze on Google maps wondering where exactly your wharf was. I'm glad you all didn't get pummeled yourselves.
Katherine
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026, 5:15 PM Lucy & Bob Email viagroups.io <RobertADuncan...> wrote:
We are being pummeled by the hurricane now. A huge sailboat (not ours) has hit our wharf and has demolished it. The boat is currently getting battered against our bulkhead. Nobody was on the boat, and nobody with brains would have anchored where it and 8 other huge boats did. Lucy
On Friday, October 9, 2026 at 03:30:42 PM CDT, Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...> wrote:
That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay safe through Isaias!
Katherine
--
Lucy and Bob Duncan
Gulf Breeze, Florida
On Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 10:34 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...> wrote:
Hi all,
This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling!
This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about birding. Questions, questions, questions.
Bob DuncanGulf Breeze, Fl
Date: 10/17/26 4:21 pm From: Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
Bob-
Yes, I hope it proves to be consistent and that many other people end up experiencing and enjoying it. Morning flight is something of an acquired taste, most appealing to those who enjoy a spectacle and/or yearn to understand more about migration.
If things go as at South Pt, temperate wintering species will now become dominant, and flights will continue fairly regularly with fall cold fronts that produce needed wind trajectory (N or NE for Navarre), which become progressively more common as the fall progresses. The big ticket species will be Yellowrumps and (in Nov) robins, with big counts of waxwings in good waxwing years. In years with siskins or other finch movements, they can be a big part as well. And other trophy birds turn up in the late season flights as well.
Tomorrow the winds turn more easterly (NE), and upwind flight will hopefully run birds into the Escambia bay shore upon which they will deflect upshore (I did not target that for this morning bc winds were essentially due N at dawn so upwind flight would not have led birds into the shoreline). I hope to be able to try somewhere on the west side of Escambia Bay (much closer to me than Navarre!) to see if anything parallel to what I saw at Mobile recently also happens there.
Only your Palms were in the grass, right, or was it some sort of migrant wreck?
Also, regarding your paucity of YRWA : it is pretty routine at South Pt for a species to dominate a morning flight there and occur in the 100s or 1000s while on the same morning being in inconspicuously small numbers at traditional migrant traps nearby. A lot of those instances involve the earliest arrivals of a species, such that South Pt gets a big flight of a species right around its usual FOF date, before any appreciable influx is evident elsewhere.
Good birding.
PY
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
[cid:91D4B89B-2D58-4695-9437-0B7014880A72]
________________________________
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2026 3:30 PM
To: <albirds...> <albirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
Hi,
I walked out to the street with this NNE wind about 30 -- 35 mph blowing this morning around 9 a.m. (now down to about 25) to find what grass wasn't covered up with storm debris loaded with W. Palms, not tired. Also mixed in were Magnolias, Blk-thr Greens, Redstarts, Orange-Crs, Tenns, Parulas in smaller numbers, only two Yellow--rumps. All told, 10 warbler spp. Looks like you found a new place to bird, Peter. Slacking off this afternoon.
Bob Duncan
On Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 02:07:08 PM CDT, Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> wrote:
Birders:
I birded the eastern extremity of the Pensacola Bay complex (and the Gulf Breeze peninsula) for 2 hours this morning, and was treated to a morning flight at a pace of 1000-1500 birds (nocturnal migrant species) per hour heading east up the bay shore. I estimate 90% Yellowrumps.
Other birds seen in the movement or in the vegetation included Y-b Cuckoo, Rose-br Grosbeak, Magnolia and Palm, Red-eyed Vireo, Catbirds, Harrier and Kestrel (four AMKR moved up the bayshore with the morning flight).
Some notes-
The best spot for skywatching to count these flights appears (so far) to be the Tom King Bridge on East Bay Boulevard, but the birds there are largely distant. The flight corridor this morning spanned perhaps a full mile width, with the bridge in the middle. This is also where I was standing to count the 3000 robins on the November morning last fall. There is no parking at the bridge, so I parked my vehicle on the nearby powerline cut.
The best spot for seeing the morning flight reasonably close and front lit, that I could find, is the parking lot of Dollar General at 6795 East Bay Boulevard, Navarre. Face toward the bay. I did not speak with staff there yet, but drew no negative attention. Of course, it would be thoughtful to buy something to show appreciation for using their lot (and who doesn't want a snack?).
The flight lines are likely to shift closer and farther from the bay shore depending on wind direction etc, on other days.
For traditional birding, there is a small local park consisting of trails cut below a brushy power line not far from the bridge. It is north of East Bay Boulevard, accessed from Avenida de Galvez just west of Galvez's X with Calle de Cortez. It has been birdy on my handful of visits to the area, including this morning. A yellow-billed cuckoo northbound along the cut missed me by inches, startling us both. On a couple other mornings I have also walked Galvez and its connecting streets birding (it has beautiful forest, lots of live oaks), and the folks I ran into (there are lots of people doing morning strolls here) were all friendly. They tell me they see bears in their yards and hood regularly (from the nearby Elgin population), and that their hood has a strange mix of very white squirrels amongst the normal gray ones. I did see one of these on a previous visit. This was very close to ground zero for Isaias, and the residential roadsides are currently piled high with woody debris awaiting pickup.
This is all about 8 miles east along the bay shore from where the Duncans reported that Jeff Madsen witnessed some eastward warbler movement this past week. I mentioned then that eBird had a 1000 Palm Warbler flight for the peninsula bay shore as well; turns out it was 10/14/22, and was by Jeff M as well. Here are his eBird comments for Palm Warbler that day:
huge flight of these birds moving west to east early in the morning, just over
treetop level, just streaming over in waves for over an hour. some stopping
on the grass in our yard to quickly forage, most kept moving, at times there
were 20+ individuals on the grass at one time. I'm sure other things were
mixed in, but all were warbler sized/shaped and most showed the white tail
corners when observed with binoculars
I tried hard to find Palms among the YRWA this morning, enough to be sure they were really YRWA dominating and not PAWA. Of course, there could have been PAWA mixed in (and other warblers; my sample for species composition was relatively small since it took me a while to find best spot for viewing).
Interesting by way of comparison, birders at South Pt in New Orleans this morning had a flight of similar volume (2000 in 2.5 hrs) that was dominated by YRWA and INBU. We are in the INBU peak, so I was a bit surprised INBU did not make up more of the Navarre flight today. Yellowrumps will peak in mid-late November (based on peaking then at South Pt).
I would love to hear any other observations of morning flight here or elsewhere in our region! Please post!
Peter Yaukey
Ferry Pass, FL
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
[cid:91D4B89B-2D58-4695-9437-0B7014880A72]
--
Lucy and Bob Duncan
Gulf Breeze, Florida
________________________________
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...>
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2026 6:57 PM
To: Albirds <ALbirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
You don't often get email from <kclemo54...> Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification> Oh, no! Lucy, I am so sorry about your wharf! There are so many idiots out there that shouldn't be allowed to own boats. What is your address? We were looking at Gulf Breeze on Google maps wondering where exactly your wharf was. I'm glad you all didn't get pummeled yourselves.
Katherine
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026, 5:15 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io<http://groups.io/> <RobertADuncan...><mailto:<bellsouth.net...>> wrote:
We are being pummeled by the hurricane now. A huge sailboat (not ours) has hit our wharf and has demolished it. The boat is currently getting battered against our bulkhead. Nobody was on the boat, and nobody with brains would have anchored where it and 8 other huge boats did.
Lucy
That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay safe through Isaias!
This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling!
This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about birding. Questions, questions, questions.
Date: 10/17/26 1:30 pm From: Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
Hi,
I walked out to the street with this NNE wind about 30 -- 35 mph blowing this morning around 9 a.m. (now down to about 25) to find what grass wasn't covered up with storm debris loaded with W. Palms, not tired. Also mixed in were Magnolias, Blk-thr Greens, Redstarts, Orange-Crs, Tenns, Parulas in smaller numbers, only two Yellow--rumps. All told, 10 warbler spp. Looks like you found a new place to bird, Peter. Slacking off this afternoon.
Bob Duncan
On Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 02:07:08 PM CDT, Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> wrote:
Birders:
I birded the eastern extremity of the Pensacola Bay complex (and the Gulf Breeze peninsula) for 2 hours this morning, and was treated to a morning flight at a pace of 1000-1500 birds (nocturnal migrant species) per hour heading east up the bay shore. I estimate 90% Yellowrumps.
Other birds seen in the movement or in the vegetation included Y-b Cuckoo, Rose-br Grosbeak, Magnolia and Palm, Red-eyed Vireo, Catbirds, Harrier and Kestrel (four AMKR moved up the bayshore with the morning flight).
Some notes-
The best spot for skywatching to count these flights appears (so far) to be the Tom King Bridge on East Bay Boulevard, but the birds there are largely distant. The flight corridor this morning spanned perhaps a full mile width, with the bridge in the middle. This is also where I was standing to count the 3000 robins on the November morning last fall. There is no parking at the bridge, so I parked my vehicle on the nearby powerline cut.
The best spot for seeing the morning flight reasonably close and front lit, that I could find, is the parking lot of Dollar General at 6795 East Bay Boulevard, Navarre. Face toward the bay. I did not speak with staff there yet, but drew no negative attention. Of course, it would be thoughtful to buy something to show appreciation for using their lot (and who doesn't want a snack?).
The flight lines are likely to shift closer and farther from the bay shore depending on wind direction etc, on other days.
For traditional birding, there is a small local park consisting of trails cut below a brushy power line not far from the bridge. It is north of East Bay Boulevard, accessed from Avenida de Galvez just west of Galvez's X with Calle de Cortez. It has been birdy on my handful of visits to the area, including this morning. A yellow-billed cuckoo northbound along the cut missed me by inches, startling us both. On a couple other mornings I have also walked Galvez and its connecting streets birding (it has beautiful forest, lots of live oaks), and the folks I ran into (there are lots of people doing morning strolls here) were all friendly. They tell me they see bears in their yards and hood regularly (from the nearby Elgin population), and that their hood has a strange mix of very white squirrels amongst the normal gray ones. I did see one of these on a previous visit. This was very close to ground zero for Isaias, and the residential roadsides are currently piled high with woody debris awaiting pickup.
This is all about 8 miles east along the bay shore from where the Duncans reported that Jeff Madsen witnessed some eastward warbler movement this past week. I mentioned then that eBird had a 1000 Palm Warbler flight for the peninsula bay shore as well; turns out it was 10/14/22, and was by Jeff M as well. Here are his eBird comments for Palm Warbler that day:
huge flight of these birds moving west to east early in the morning, just over treetop level, just streaming over in waves for over an hour. some stopping on the grass in our yard to quickly forage, most kept moving, at times there were 20+ individuals on the grass at one time. I'm sure other things were mixed in, but all were warbler sized/shaped and most showed the white tail corners when observed with binoculars
I tried hard to find Palms among the YRWA this morning, enough to be sure they were really YRWA dominating and not PAWA. Of course, there could have been PAWA mixed in (and other warblers; my sample for species composition was relatively small since it took me a while to find best spot for viewing).
Interesting by way of comparison, birders at South Pt in New Orleans this morning had a flight of similar volume (2000 in 2.5 hrs) that was dominated by YRWA and INBU. We are in the INBU peak, so I was a bit surprised INBU did not make up more of the Navarre flight today. Yellowrumps will peak in mid-late November (based on peaking then at South Pt).
I would love to hear any other observations of morning flight here or elsewhere in our region! Please post!
Peter YaukeyFerry Pass, FL
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...>
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2026 6:57 PM
To: Albirds <ALbirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
| | You don't often get email from <kclemo54...> Learn why this is important | |
Oh, no! Lucy, I am so sorry about your wharf! There are so many idiots out there that shouldn't be allowed to own boats. What is your address? We were looking at Gulf Breeze on Google maps wondering where exactly your wharf was. I'm glad you all didn't get pummeled yourselves.
Katherine
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026, 5:15 PM Lucy & Bob Email viagroups.io <RobertADuncan...> wrote:
We are being pummeled by the hurricane now. A huge sailboat (not ours) has hit our wharf and has demolished it. The boat is currently getting battered against our bulkhead. Nobody was on the boat, and nobody with brains would have anchored where it and 8 other huge boats did. Lucy
On Friday, October 9, 2026 at 03:30:42 PM CDT, Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...> wrote:
That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay safe through Isaias!
Katherine
--
Lucy and Bob Duncan
Gulf Breeze, Florida
On Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 10:34 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...> wrote:
Hi all,
This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling!
This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about birding. Questions, questions, questions.
Bob DuncanGulf Breeze, Fl
Date: 10/17/26 12:07 pm From: Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
Birders:
I birded the eastern extremity of the Pensacola Bay complex (and the Gulf Breeze peninsula) for 2 hours this morning, and was treated to a morning flight at a pace of 1000-1500 birds (nocturnal migrant species) per hour heading east up the bay shore. I estimate 90% Yellowrumps.
Other birds seen in the movement or in the vegetation included Y-b Cuckoo, Rose-br Grosbeak, Magnolia and Palm, Red-eyed Vireo, Catbirds, Harrier and Kestrel (four AMKR moved up the bayshore with the morning flight).
Some notes-
The best spot for skywatching to count these flights appears (so far) to be the Tom King Bridge on East Bay Boulevard, but the birds there are largely distant. The flight corridor this morning spanned perhaps a full mile width, with the bridge in the middle. This is also where I was standing to count the 3000 robins on the November morning last fall. There is no parking at the bridge, so I parked my vehicle on the nearby powerline cut.
The best spot for seeing the morning flight reasonably close and front lit, that I could find, is the parking lot of Dollar General at 6795 East Bay Boulevard, Navarre. Face toward the bay. I did not speak with staff there yet, but drew no negative attention. Of course, it would be thoughtful to buy something to show appreciation for using their lot (and who doesn't want a snack?).
The flight lines are likely to shift closer and farther from the bay shore depending on wind direction etc, on other days.
For traditional birding, there is a small local park consisting of trails cut below a brushy power line not far from the bridge. It is north of East Bay Boulevard, accessed from Avenida de Galvez just west of Galvez's X with Calle de Cortez. It has been birdy on my handful of visits to the area, including this morning. A yellow-billed cuckoo northbound along the cut missed me by inches, startling us both. On a couple other mornings I have also walked Galvez and its connecting streets birding (it has beautiful forest, lots of live oaks), and the folks I ran into (there are lots of people doing morning strolls here) were all friendly. They tell me they see bears in their yards and hood regularly (from the nearby Elgin population), and that their hood has a strange mix of very white squirrels amongst the normal gray ones. I did see one of these on a previous visit. This was very close to ground zero for Isaias, and the residential roadsides are currently piled high with woody debris awaiting pickup.
This is all about 8 miles east along the bay shore from where the Duncans reported that Jeff Madsen witnessed some eastward warbler movement this past week. I mentioned then that eBird had a 1000 Palm Warbler flight for the peninsula bay shore as well; turns out it was 10/14/22, and was by Jeff M as well. Here are his eBird comments for Palm Warbler that day:
huge flight of these birds moving west to east early in the morning, just over
treetop level, just streaming over in waves for over an hour. some stopping
on the grass in our yard to quickly forage, most kept moving, at times there
were 20+ individuals on the grass at one time. I'm sure other things were
mixed in, but all were warbler sized/shaped and most showed the white tail
corners when observed with binoculars
I tried hard to find Palms among the YRWA this morning, enough to be sure they were really YRWA dominating and not PAWA. Of course, there could have been PAWA mixed in (and other warblers; my sample for species composition was relatively small since it took me a while to find best spot for viewing).
Interesting by way of comparison, birders at South Pt in New Orleans this morning had a flight of similar volume (2000 in 2.5 hrs) that was dominated by YRWA and INBU. We are in the INBU peak, so I was a bit surprised INBU did not make up more of the Navarre flight today. Yellowrumps will peak in mid-late November (based on peaking then at South Pt).
I would love to hear any other observations of morning flight here or elsewhere in our region! Please post!
Peter Yaukey
Ferry Pass, FL
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
[cid:91D4B89B-2D58-4695-9437-0B7014880A72]
________________________________
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...>
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2026 6:57 PM
To: Albirds <ALbirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
You don't often get email from <kclemo54...> Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification> Oh, no! Lucy, I am so sorry about your wharf! There are so many idiots out there that shouldn't be allowed to own boats. What is your address? We were looking at Gulf Breeze on Google maps wondering where exactly your wharf was. I'm glad you all didn't get pummeled yourselves.
Katherine
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026, 5:15 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io<http://groups.io/> <RobertADuncan...><mailto:<bellsouth.net...>> wrote:
We are being pummeled by the hurricane now. A huge sailboat (not ours) has hit our wharf and has demolished it. The boat is currently getting battered against our bulkhead. Nobody was on the boat, and nobody with brains would have anchored where it and 8 other huge boats did.
Lucy
That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay safe through Isaias!
This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling!
This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about birding. Questions, questions, questions.
Oh, no! Lucy, I am so sorry about your wharf! There are so many idiots out there that shouldn't be allowed to own boats. What is your address? We were looking at Gulf Breeze on Google maps wondering where exactly your wharf was. I'm glad you all didn't get pummeled yourselves.
Katherine
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026, 5:15 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan= <bellsouth.net...> wrote:
> We are being pummeled by the hurricane now. A huge sailboat (not ours) has > hit our wharf and has demolished it. The boat is currently getting battered > against our bulkhead. Nobody was on the boat, and nobody with brains would > have anchored where it and 8 other huge boats did. > Lucy > > On Friday, October 9, 2026 at 03:30:42 PM CDT, Katherine Clemo via > groups.io <kclemo54...> wrote: > > > That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing > well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a > planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay > safe through Isaias! > > Katherine > > -- > Lucy and Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, Florida > > > On Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 10:34 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io > <RobertADuncan...> wrote: > > Hi all, > > This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles > east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about > 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in > Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later > trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West > Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West > Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds > "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended > movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane > at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling! > > This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for > landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and > I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew > east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about > birding. Questions, questions, questions. > > Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, Fl > > > > > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > Virus-free.www.avg.com > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > <#m_8888597877678261110_m_-6287489669628355109_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > > -- > Lucy and Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, Florida > > > >
Date: 10/10/26 11:24 am From: Geoffrey Hill via groups.io <hillgee...> Subject: [ALbirds] Inland storm birds
Hello Alabama birders,
I was in Lowndes County this morning east of Selma just after what should have been the eye of the hurricane passed, and there were few hurricane birds. No interesting birds at Henry Dam. At Rhyne Turf farm there was nothing storm related when I went by at 630am. At 830, there was a single juvenile Black Tern and the best bird of the day, Cave Swallow. No other birds that appeared to be related to the storm. At Thurlow Dam in Tallassee, there was a single Laughing Gull. From other reports that I have seen, that is what other birders found—very few scattered gulls and terns.
Based on weather reports that I heard, it seems that wind shear broke up the storm (and released most of the trapped birds), just as the storm made landfall. So, seems like there are few storm birds to chase inland.
Geoff Hill, Auburn
**********************************
Dr. Geoffrey Hill
Professor
Dept. Biological Sciences
101 Life Sciences Building
120 W. Samford Ave.
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849-5414
NEW BOOK: Mitonuclear Ecology
Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution
****************************************
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Ken Hare via groups.io <kmhare46...>
Date: Saturday, October 10, 2026 at 10:22 AM
To: Albirds <ALbirds...>
Subject: [ALbirds] Storm birds
I know we all rely on eBird for rare bird alerts these days, but to avoid the necessary delays in those showing up it might be fun to revert to the old days when we routinely share those quickly on Albirds.
Also, any advice on where to go today or tomorrow for the best birding?
Ken H.
PS: I have an ulterior motive. If this proves helpful, it could make a nice way to plug AOS.
Date: 10/10/26 8:57 am From: Doris Gertler via groups.io <dee.gertler...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Storm birds
Thank you for restarting this feed-always like to hear about new sightings.
Lots of birds dropped in at our water feature in Hoover yesterday afternoon:
rose-breasted grosbeak, wood thrush, gray-cheeked and Swainson's thrushes,
magnolia , black-and white, golden-winged warblers and redstarts.
D
On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 10:22 AM Ken Hare via groups.io <kmhare46=
<knology.net...> wrote:
> I know we all rely on eBird for rare bird alerts these days, but to avoid
> the necessary delays in those showing up it might be fun to revert to the
> old days when we routinely share those quickly on Albirds.
>
> Also, any advice on where to go today or tomorrow for the best birding?
>
> Ken H.
>
> PS: I have an ulterior motive. If this proves helpful, it could make a
> nice way to plug AOS.
>
>
>
>
>
>
Date: 10/10/26 8:53 am From: Shirley Farrell via groups.io <shirfarr...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Storm birds
I think that is an excellent idea! Frank wants to go birding tomorrow and I
need a good direction or location for car birding for him and walking for
me.
Shirley J Farrell
Tyler, AL
On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 10:22 AM Ken Hare via groups.io <kmhare46=
<knology.net...> wrote:
> I know we all rely on eBird for rare bird alerts these days, but to avoid
> the necessary delays in those showing up it might be fun to revert to the
> old days when we routinely share those quickly on Albirds.
>
> Also, any advice on where to go today or tomorrow for the best birding?
>
> Ken H.
>
> PS: I have an ulterior motive. If this proves helpful, it could make a
> nice way to plug AOS.
>
>
>
>
>
>
Date: 10/10/26 8:22 am From: Ken Hare via groups.io <kmhare46...> Subject: [ALbirds] Storm birds
I know we all rely on eBird for rare bird alerts these days, but to avoid the necessary delays in those showing up it might be fun to revert to the old days when we routinely share those quickly on Albirds.
Also, any advice on where to go today or tomorrow for the best birding?
Ken H.
PS: I have an ulterior motive. If this proves helpful, it could make a nice way to plug AOS.
Date: 10/9/26 2:15 pm From: Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Interesting warbler migration
We are being pummeled by the hurricane now. A huge sailboat (not ours) has hit our wharf and has demolished it. The boat is currently getting battered against our bulkhead. Nobody was on the boat, and nobody with brains would have anchored where it and 8 other huge boats did. Lucy
On Friday, October 9, 2026 at 03:30:42 PM CDT, Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...> wrote:
That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay safe through Isaias!
Katherine
On Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 10:34 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan...> wrote:
Hi all,
This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling!
This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about birding. Questions, questions, questions.
Bob DuncanGulf Breeze, Fl
That is VERY interesting, Bob. Hope you and Lucy and family are doing well. We missed our annual fall trip to DI and AOS meeting due to a planned trip that got cancelled. Hope to see you all in the Spring. Stay safe through Isaias!
Katherine
On Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 10:34 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan= <bellsouth.net...> wrote:
> Hi all, > > This morning Jeff Madsen, an experienced birder who lives about 10 miles > east of the tip of our 20 mile long peninsula of Gulf Breze watched about > 100 - 200 warblers fly EAST against a moderate ENE wind. Normally, birds in > Fall migration are seen moving west in a circum-Gulf movement or a later > trans-Gulf migration. The exception would be those headed for the West > Indies. I rather doubt that a movement that large would be West > Indian-bound birds this late in the season. Is it possible these birds > "sensed" future worsening conditions to the west of their intended > movement and it caused them to avoid further movement west? The hurricane > at that point in time was still in the S. Gulf. That's mind boggling! > > This phenomenon occurred years ago when a hurricane was headed for > landfall to our west but was still well to the south of the coast. Lucy and > I witnessed a steady progression of Black Terns from our home as they flew > east most of the day against a stiff east wind. That's what's great about > birding. Questions, questions, questions. > > Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, Fl > > > > > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > Virus-free.www.avg.com > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > <#m_-6287489669628355109_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > > -- > Lucy and Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, Florida > >
Date: 10/6/26 5:07 pm From: Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> Subject: [ALbirds] morning flight concentration in Mobile this morning
Hello ALBirders:
One of the major mechanisms that appears to direct the movements of migrating birds engaged in morning flight (continuation of nocturnal migration into the early morning, often near tree top level) is an urge in some individuals to fly directly into the wind, apparently as a strategy to correct for wind drift that occurred overnight. This appears to be the explanation for the flights at South Pt in New Orleans.
Based on this concept, and the NE winds that were forecast to occur with the front that just passed, I searched maps for good spot to sky watch from on the west side of Mobile Bay this morning, and settled on Arlington Park, a few minutes off I-10 (and an eBird hotspot).
Without any scouting, I arrived there just before 8AM this morning, and drove as far east as I could (parking ultimately near the start of the boardwalk), with 15 min available to squeeze out of my commute to work.
It was a great 15 min. The sky was filled with northbound migrants the whole time. Counts facing east and west totaled 55 birds passing in a timed minute each direction. The flight was dominated by Indigo Buntings (c. 80%), followed by Palm Warblers, Blue Grosbeaks, and Chimney Swifts.
If this site follows the patterns I know from South Pt in New Orleans, there could be another (albeit usually smaller) echo flight tomorrow morning. If any Mobile birders feel inspired and want to check it out, please let me/us know what you find.
I will only be able to visit this spot on Tue and Thu mornings this fall, and am not sure how many times these days will conveniently align with cold front passages and the pulses of migration that accompany them. I would love to hear if other birders have seen flights of this sort there before, or any new intel they may gather going forward!
![https://s-install.avcdn.net/ipm/preview/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png]<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>](https://s-install.avcdn.net/ipm/preview/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png]<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>){kind=link}