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| The Dream Stuff of Birders | | 10/15/2009 9:27:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Birders on Monhegan Island September Photo by Don Reimer |
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| Lark Sparrow in Tom Martins yard |
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fallout on Monhegan
by Don Reimer
According to one definition, a fallout of birds is "a mass of birds, exceptional in both number and diversity that descends on a given locale as a result of meteorological or seasonal forces." Fallouts are most likely to occur during the peak periods of spring and fall migration, and are usually associated with changing weather patterns produced by vigorous frontal systems. Being principally an eastern U.S. phenomenon, huge fallouts are the dream stuff of birders.
In late September I was fortunate to spend a few days on Monhegan Island. Monhegan is a magical place during migration, attracting birders from all parts of the country that are often rewarded with close-up views of a wide variety of neotropical migrants. For newly arrived birders landing at the island ferry dock, the most frequently asked question is, "What's in Tom's yard?" This would be Tom Martin, a native of New York City who has spent nearly 50 spring and fall seasons at a fish house apartment midway up the island's main roadway. Tom has photographed and studied Monhegan's birds for decades and he always provides a diet of fresh birdseed spread on several boards laid on the ground in his yard. Each May, stacks of halved oranges hang from the branches of rugosa hedges to attract migrating Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Up until the early morning hours of September 25, answering the question of "What's in Tom's yard?" was quite simple - "not much." Although a handful of warblers foraged in the lilacs and apple trees along the village road, southerly headwinds had served to bottle up the migrants somewhere to the north.
On the evening of September 24, a strong Northwest cold front whipped across the island, rattling the house shutters and rocking the boats in the harbor. In the chilling dawn, whitecaps bristled across the bay from the mainland. The brightening morning sky revealed hundreds (possibly 2,000 to 3,000) of tiny, chipping birds that quickly dropped and settled into cover everywhere on the island. Taking off around dark, these nocturnal migrants tend to move southward throughout the night and land the following morning to rest and feed. Finding themselves blown out over the open ocean at dawn, the weary and buffeted flocks descended upon the nearest land formations.
Groups of awed birders stood at several roadside intersections as scores of wood warblers, vireos and thrushes made their way through trees and bushes in search of caterpillars and insect larvae. Flocks containing dozens of Baltimore Orioles worked their way through protective, dense cover. A few of the exhausted birds even fed in the dirt within feet of the scanning birders. Suddenly the island lawns filled up with dozens of ground-feeding Palm Warblers and Savannah Sparrows. Five different species of vireos were observed. Over 20 species of warblers were seen during the busy morning and, finally, Tom Martin's yard contained the expected Clay-colored, White-crowned and Lark Sparrows that manage to find him each fall.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Ed Slattery
Hi Don,
Great article (and even better picture). Thanks for getting it to me.
Ed
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