Warbler Heaven

With spring’s arrival, I have been on the lookout for migrating birds. Yesterday while biking, I heard 10s of Black-Throated Green Warblers on a several mile section of road. Hearing them got me excited about the warblers being here, so today I set out to do some exploring. After walking along the road with little success, I noticed what looked like an opening in the woods behind my apartment. I headed off with my binoculars, bird book, and my boots on. After going through a narrow band of poplar and balsam fir, things opened up into a large alder swamp with patches of spruce, fir, and tamarack all through it. Then I noticed the sounds. Excitedly, I moved a little ways into the swamp. Around me were tons of warblers, all singing, feeding, and exploring. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Within an hour of just staying in one area, I had seen seven different warbler species, chickadees, sparrows, and heard kinglets. After several more hours of exploring and watching these amazing birds, I came up with a quite impressive list of birds:

Warblers: Tennessee, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Black-Throated Blue, Yellow-Rumped, Black-Throated Green, Blackburnian, Black-and-White, Blackpoll, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat

Other songbirds: Golden Crowned Kinglet, Tree Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Black-Capped Chickadee

It was so amazing watching these birds. Despite all being there together, the warblers all seemed to have a certain method and location for finding their food – some climbed around close to the trunk of the larger trees, some stayed at the ends of the

conifer branches, others worked exclusively in the alders. The Northern Parulas really caught my attention as they picked at the flowering and budding ends of the alders, seeming to find many insects there. Two different warblers seemed curious about my presence – a Black-Throated Green and an American Redstart. Both came close enough that I could see all of their beautiful markings clearly without binoculars. I watched this Black-Throated Blue for an hour as he caught insects in the alders along this pond.

This was an afternoon to remember, and a place I know I will continue to explore through the summer in the hopes of seeing these birds more.