Today’s story starts on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 29. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, but every fiber of my being thought that it was quite reasonable for me to sleep late. However, the habit of waking up at dawn has become so ingrained in me that logic and reason had no say in the fact that I was awake. The real question was, should I go back to sleep. To answer that question I turned on BirdCast.
In the darkness of my bedroom, looking at my phone with only one half-opened eye, the BirdCast map indicated that during the night there were 230 million birds on the move; all of them heading south. Furthermore, there was a ton of activity in New England. So, as soft, warm, and comfortable as I was, I knew that I had to get up. This was an opportunity that I simply could not ignore. I was within striking distance of a new record for the month of August and I had to give it a shot.
The temperature was 53 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky was filled with fair-weather clouds. My morning routine went without a hitch and I arrived at my Thinking Chair at 6:15 a.m.; just two minutes before sunrise. I scattered some birdseed in the usual places, got myself comfortable and began my quest to add as many new species to my August bird list as possible. I had already recorded 64 different species and the all-time record was 68. I needed four new species to simply tie the record, which seemed very unlikely because I had already seen the “easy” birds and even had a few “not-so-easy” species on my list.
I was down in the meadow for three hours that morning and I had an absolutely wonderful time. Surprisingly, however, I was only able to see one new species in that entire time. High up in one of the trees to my west, sitting on an exposed branch for less than a minute, I caught sight of an immature male Scarlet Tanager. I had been taking photos all morning and my reflexes were all warmed up, so I was able to get a photo of the bird. I was excited about the photos, but a little disappointed to have only ended up with 65 species on my list.
The morning of Sunday, Aug. 30 was nearly a carbon copy of the previous day. The weather was fair with mixed clouds, and the temperature was 59 degrees Fahrenheit, but on this particular morning the BirdCast radar map showed a very different story. Only 70 million birds had been in flight during the night and there was no indication of movement into New England. Instead, the radar survey showed that birds were leaving New England. Still, it was the last morning in August that I would be home, so I got myself down to the Thinking Chair in fairly short order.
Nikonus and Iso must have been watching to see if I would display the sort of dedication that deserves recognition and reward. Thus, when I obediently reported for duty they must have had a conversation that resulted in a decision to “make it happen.” An amazing series of coincidental bird observations commenced and the joy that I experienced that morning climbed and climbed.
The first X-factor bird to appear was a Wilson’s Warbler. About the size of an American Goldfinch, the Wilson’s Warbler has an all-yellow body and a small black cap of feathers on top of the head. I might have missed the bird, or even dismissed it, had I not been compulsively checking every goldfinch that appeared. This one turned out to be something completely different, and it brought my total to 66 species.
I quickly realized that I was in the middle of a warbler swarm. It is not unusual to stumble across mixed flocks of warblers during migration and this particular flock contained some delightful diversity. The core of the flock appeared to be composed of Black-throated Green Warblers, but there were other species peppered throughout the flock. Among them was a gorgeous male Blackburnian Warbler. This was species number 67, and I started to get excited. Was it going to happen?
About an hour later I was looking at my notes and reviewing some of the photos that I had taken when I heard a faint but recognizable call coming from deep within the forest. I froze. This was a big deal and I had to make sure that I wasn’t imagining things. I closed my eyes so that I could focus all of my attention on what I was hearing and… there it was again; no mistake at all. I even turned on my Merlin app and let it listen. Merlin heard it too. It was the call of an Eastern Wood-pewee. I had tied the record!
At 9 a.m. I had to make a decision. Head back to the house, or stay for another hour. Nikonus and Iso watched me very carefully. I decided to stay and I was rewarded. Just before 10 a.m. the light had softened dramatically due to some clouds that had moved in. There were no harsh shadows and the colors were rich and saturated. This was Iso’s gift. A movement to my left caught my attention and I turned to find myself looking at something new and different. Up came the camera and I though I initially had a little trouble focusing, I was able to take several photos in 10 seconds. The fact that the bird paused for an extra second was a gift from Nikonus. Could it be? I was celebrating, but I needed an independent confirmation. I sent a copy of today’s photo to my brother and anxiously waited for a response. When it arrived I was exultant. The bird was a Swainson’s Thrush and it broke my all-time record for August. Nikonus and Iso had smiled upon me, and I smiled right back at them.
Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 29 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more information visit www.speakingofnature.com, Speaking of Nature on Facebook, or the Speaking of Nature Podcast.