While it wasn’t ideal weather for our September walk, it could have been much worse. The rain stopped at dawn and didn’t resume until the afternoon. The strong westerly wind made it very challenging to locate the birds, so our species list was well below what we might expect at this time of year. We found no warblers, and even the sparrows were tough to find.

Monarch butterflies however were very plentiful. Some were seeking protection from the wind, while others were actively feeding on the asters.

This female Northern Flicker was one of the few birds to sit and pose for us.

Resting Monarch Butterflies look much like cones or dead leaves from a distance.

This Redstart appeared just after the walk ended and the winds began to subside a bit.

It was called a “bird” walk, but the butterflies were the star attraction this month!