On Sat, Sep 5, 2026 at 10:40 PM Zac Denning via groups.io <zdenning1=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> This morning, I met some birder friends from out of town at 6:40am at
> Vollmer Peak. Last night was (I think) the first clear night/morning for
> several weeks, and I suspect this, along with the warm temperatures and
> minimal breeze, spurred a nice flush of migrants.
>
> We witnessed some visible migration - with occasional small groups of 3-5
> passerines zipping over the peak, often giving flight calls, all heading
> East to West.
>
> Our goal for the outing was to find my friend a lifer Hermit Warbler -
> which we did (at least 4). Amazingly, we had an 8 warbler morning (every
> expected N CA species except Yellow-rumped!), with the highlight being a
> Nashville Warbler (wears in eBird due to the early date). 8 species is
> the best non-vagrant warbler haul I’ve had outside of the Mines Rd area:
>
> - 1 Nashville Warbler
> - 12 Wilson’s Warblers
> - 1 Orange-crowned Warbler
> - 4 Hermit Warblers
> - 8 Townsend’s Warblers
> - 1 Yellow Warbler
> - 1 MacGillivray’s Warblers
> - 1 Black-throated Gray (possibly 2?)
>
> We also encountered a nice variety of other migrants:
>
> - 25 Vaux’s Swifts (probably an undercount)
> - 1 juvenile Chipping Sparrow
> - 6 Western Tanagers
> - 1 Western Wood-pewee
> - 1 Western Warbling Vireo
> - 1 Swainson’s Thrush
> - 5 Pine Siskins
> - 1 Purple Finch
> - 2 American Robins
> - 3 Northern Flickers
> - 15 Red-breasted Nuthatches (tough to estimate)
> - 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
> - 20 Western Flycatchers (conservative estimate of birds heard and
> seen)
> - 10 Violet-green Swallows
> - 1 Tree Swallow
> - 12 New World Warbler sp. - in flight
> - 3 passerine sp - possibly Lazuli Buntings, but tough to say for
> sure. Zipped over the top of the peak without pause.
>
> The wind was mild (3-6 mph out of the SW), clear overhead with scattered
> clouds in the distance plus some haze from wildfire smoke, temperatures
> 57-67F.
>
> Happy birding,
>
> Zac Denning
> Albany
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