Common Yellowthroat
This male Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) and I are rather close…or at least we were for about 30 seconds on a recent May morning. This bird is a migrant, though you may end up with a resident in a yard near you. Their common name does betray their abundance, and gardens, marshes, fields, forests or anywhere they can skulk about in dense, low vegetation works for them. Being a habitat generalist has helped the species end up as one of our most common warblers. It also makes them a frequent target of Brown-headed Cowbirds and brood parasitism, like the abundant Yellow Warbler....
Read MoreWarbler Portraits
After RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser watched Robin Moore and Clay Bolt utilize this portrait photography technique he thought he’d give it a try with some of our birds in the Northeast U.S. Here we have the first results of his series with a Common Yellowthroat and Yellow Warbler.
Read MoreWarbling Vireo
One of the more drab and plain May migrant birds in the Northeast is the Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus). Their subtle shades of brown, gray and olive combined with their tendency to hang up in the canopy makes it difficult to get an eyeful of the species – and you are far more likely to have an earful of their dynamic, fast and bold warbling song. This individual was foraging on a recent morning at a migratory hotspot, coming to eye-level and pausing on the phragmites just long enough for me to snap a shot. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreCape May Warblers
Today I had the best views of Cape May Warblers ever during easily the best day of spring migration so far this year. Birds that had been trapped in the Mid-Atlantic for a week or 10 days finally moved north with heavy migration occurring on southerly winds. New England and northern New York had poor migratory conditions still, stopping a lot of birds when they arrived, and some areas of fog and/or rain also helped locally. I thought these couple of shots were the best I would get, and I was happy enough… But they decided to stick around after the clouds cleared and show off, feeding...
Read MoreCommon Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Some of our more common breeding songbirds have returned to the Northeast and are already setting up territories. The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) is one such species, and RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser captured the character of an adult male in this wonderful piece for his Audubon series. Photographed for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Connecticut while on assignment for The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
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