Best bird(s) of the morning:

• Empidonax Flycatcher, 1
• Orchard Oriole, 12, small flock foraging among the sunflowers left standing west of the cantonment area

Both sightings are a sure sign that fall migration has started

Complete list:

• Northern Bobwhite, 7; most in the field where the sunflowers were not mowed down
• Great Blue Heron, 1 flying overhead
• Green Heron, 1 flying overhead
• Swainson’s Hawk, 1 perched in the trees next to where the sunflowers were mowed
• Killdeer, 1 flying overhead
• White-winged Dove, 8 flying overhead
• Mourning Dove, 40
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 2; one in mesquite habitat, one next to the shredded field
• Common Nighthawk, 5
• Black-chinned Hummingbird, 2
• Ladder-backed Woodpecker, 1
• Empidonax Flycatcher, 1 (if I had to ID it: Willow, due to its large size, dark head, no eye ring)
• Ash-throated Flycatcher, 1
• Western Kingbird, 3
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, 10
• Blue Jay, 5
• American Crow, 1
• Cliff Swallow, 55 on the wires above the diversion ditch, low water crossing
• Barn Swallow, 1 flying overhead
• Black-crested Titmouse, 2
• Bewick’s Wren, 1
• Northern Mockingbird, 7 and they were not singing this morning
• Eurasian Starling, 9
• Canyon Towhee, 2
• Lark Sparrow, 5
• Northern Cardinal, 3
• Painted Bunting, 2
• Dickcissel, 39, with the majority still using the sunflowers that weren’t mowed. Saw a male and female still bringing food to a nest site. But there was a small flock of about 12 that were roaming aimlessly, either this year’s teenage nestlings or misplaced parents still trying to find their nests in the shredded grass.
• Red-winged Blackbird, 1 (yep, I was nowhere near water)
• Great-tailed Grackle, 146
• Brown-headed Cowbird, 11
• Orchard Oriole, 12 in the remaining sunflower patch foraging
• Bullock’s Oriole, 1
• House Finch, 2
• House Sparrow, 15

Sightings by LgPacker in Mesquite Shrub habitat and in the large field west of the cantonment area, where it was recently shredded. SYITF