Blackpoll, Palm, Tropical, migrant Bell's, Bank

Dictating this again from the field so it'll be full of typos. Clearly a slug of new migrants arrived today as I am seeing Western migrants at virtually every stop with a clear major increase in numbers of yellow rumps and white crowns, and also my first Ruby crowned kinglets and American pipits of the season. I am currently staring at a tropical Kingbird with a couple cassins and bluebirds on the fence surrounding the southernmost ball field at Kimball Park in national City. Earlier in the morning I had a blackpoll warbler in the northeast corner of Montgomery Waller Park which is in Otay Mesa or nestor where there is a patch of a number of large lerpy eucalyptus trees that also had a fair number of other migrants including Nashville and a bunch of tanagers and a black-headed grosbeak. Also smaller numbers of lerpy trees and smaller number of migrants in the northwest corner and around the first ball field there. I am finding that Bird activity in these large lerpy eucalyptus definitely drops off midday especially if it gets breezy like today, so suggest those areas be covered as best as can be done early and late in the day. Very rare was a migrant type Bells vireo feeding in cherry tomatoes at the community gardens on Hollister avenue in the TRV. Looked like a very fresh plumaged local pusillus race. I also had a palm warbler along the bike path at the south end of San Diego Bay near the end of 13th, where also the bank swallow continues to the east now for about its fourth day or so early in the morning on the salt works wires with good numbers of barns and trees. A lesser yellowlegs continues at the salt works as well.

Paul Lehman, San Diego

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports