Field Guides
Triangle birding — Fall warblers at Mason Farm
Where the mixed flocks move through Mason Farm in late September, and how to tell the confusing ones apart.
When to go
Fall warbler movement through the Triangle peaks from the last week of September into mid-October. The best mornings follow a clear night with a north or northwest wind behind a cold front: birds that flew overnight drop into the first good patch of woods and edge they see. Get there within an hour of sunrise, before the flocks spread out and go quiet.
The loop
Mason Farm Biological Reserve in Chapel Hill is about forty minutes from Five Points. Walk the main loop around the old fields slowly. The sunny edges where the fields meet the woods warm first and the insects follow, so that is where mixed flocks feed in the first two hours. Listen for Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice: the warblers travel with them. The road in crosses Morgan Creek low, so check it after heavy rain.
Confusing fall warblers
Bay-breasted and Blackpoll look alike in fall. Check the feet and undertail: Blackpoll has yellowish soles and white undertail coverts, Bay-breasted has dark feet and buffy undertail coverts and flanks. Magnolia shows a gray head with a thin white eye-ring and a white band across the middle of the tail. Tennessee is plain green with a white undertail; Orange-crowned is duller with a yellowish one. Black-throated Blue females are plain olive-brown; look for the small white square at the base of the primaries.
Camera settings
The Z6III with the 70-180mm at 180mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 s and auto ISO capped at 6400. AF-C in wide-area (S) with animal detection on, and the high-speed burst in short bursts only. At 180mm a warbler fills a small part of the frame, so expect to crop to about a third of the 24.5MP file. Leave the P1100 for the open field edges: its small sensor gets noisy fast in the shade under the canopy.
Etiquette
No playback on the reserve. Stay on the trail and close the gate behind you. Log every stop as an eBird checklist so the counts help the next person: the hotspot data is how this guide picked its loop.