5:44 AM. Hazy half-moon over Sapsucker Ridge and robins sing in all directions, off to the edge of my hearing. It’s 60 degrees, sandal weather, as the nearest Song Sparrow gets underway.
Now the first ten species of the morning are all detectable before 6:20. One that is becoming more vocal these days is American Goldfinch, though unlike the rest of the local crowd it won’t be settling in to nest until the proper plants are available, toward July.
Clouds of a large and fragile-looking fly or relative are already hovering over the balcony in the unseasonable warmth. A pleasant breeze is enough for the first Turkey Vulture at 6:29, followed by 16 more that spend most of the next hour plunging and circling over Bald Eagle Mountain.
Silhouettes
The sky above the ridgeline of Bald Eagle Mountain is lit up enough that it is already possible by 6:20 to ID birds heading east toward the valley. Brown-headed Cowbird, American Robin, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Killdeer, European Starling, and others have distinct enough profiles that their IDs can largely be resolved, even at a mile’s distance. Meanwhile, other than a trio of Common Mergansers and a pair of Canada Geese, very little comes out of the Gap heading west.
Just after the half-hour, at five minutes to sunrise, a Blue Jay calls over by the river, unusually early for this species. American Robins, after a two-hour chorus, briefly fall silent. House Sparrows take up the slack, their shouts echoing off pavements and walls.
Another flush of species raises the total to 26 by a little after seven. The vultures disappear temporarily, leaving the skies empty for a few minutes. At 7:06, a tiny Sharp-shinned Hawk, perhaps a migrant that spent the night locally, flies resolutely northeastward along the ridgeline. A local Black Vulture pair arrives and joins the re-emerging Turkey Vulture throng.
Common Ravens are late and quiet today. The first to show up is at 7:14 AM: I spot it over Bald Eagle Mountain, soaring high, then it plummets headfirst, doing full, bullet-like twists at the same time. I count four rotations before it sinks out of sight below the trees.
Seventeen Double-crested Cormorants emerge from the east, high over the Gap, flying in a loose V that pivots north. This is a high number for the hotspot and the second record of the year. They are species #35 of the day.
Bumblebee Afternoon
In the afternoon, I can stand to work on the porch for only half an hour in a mostly fruitless search for migrating raptors. Even the shade temperature is close to 80, and my south-east facing balcony has been baking all day, so it’s barely tolerable. Bumblebees and yellowjackets zoom and fight, investigating the maze of wooden balconies and porches along the block.
It is hot enough to keep most of the birds down and silent. At one point, a nearly translucent Blue Jay calls and lands briefly in the nearest sycamore before heading on. Only House Sparrows keep up the semblance of a chorus. Not a grackle, robin, or starling are anywhere to be seen. The skies are similarly empty, but for an occasional Turkey Vulture. A pair of ravens and another of Red-tailed Hawks take it in stride, circling, hovering, diving.
At 1:44, an immature Golden Eagle glides over the Gap, briefly tagged by a local Red-tail, following the ridgeline northeast. It’s getting late in the season for this species, but we usually have a trickle come through all the way into early May—the last of the Eastern eagles, heading toward the species’ breeding grounds in Canada.