American Redstart

What goes up must come down. That’s the promise September in New York always keeps. I’ve been knocked out for the past few days by a particularly malevolent cold which really put a cramp in my birding style. But there is no rest for the weary when one is a parent. In my daily travels shopping or escorting Mason to the park, certain signs were hard to miss. A pewee here, a parula there, and it’s clear that fall migration is well and truly upon us. Anyone paying attention could have spotted the same American Redstarts and Black-and-White Warblers in the canopy or Ospreys and Sharp-shinned Hawks over the Hudson River that I did. I’m grateful that I have the sense to look up.

Speaking of looking up, I spotted my first flock of Common Nighthawks of the year, during midday no less. If you live along the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic coast, now is your best chance of spotting these nifty nightjars on the fly.

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.