American Redstart
Here are a couple more shots from the Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge featuring an adult male American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). This and many other Redstarts were foraging and singing nonstop on the beautiful spring morning. The species is utterly saturating our region right now with birds that can be seen or heard nearly anywhere you can find trees. I am still seeing mostly males, and I think we have a sizable number of birds yet to come over the next week or two. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreBlue-winged Warbler Portrait
Here’s another one of RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser’s portraits – the Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera). He says it is one of the birds that really got him into ornithology, and that their relationship with the Golden-winged Warbler and systematic life cycles with this species in habitats fascinated him at an early age.
Read MoreCommon 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 MoreWilson’s Warbler
I was thrilled to come across this Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) when I made a quick birding stop this afternoon on what I knew was already a stellar day for migrant birds. Though I did not have much time to be outside surveying during the work day this bird was literally spotted from my Jeep, and on top of that it cooperated for these photos while it was foraging. This is a species that RTPI President Twan Leenders does not believe exists. Huh? When I started working for Twan several years ago he had not yet seen a Wilson’s Warbler. It was one of those species…you...
Read MoreMagnolia Warbler
This Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) was another bird from the Noble Proctor Memorial BioBlitz Challenge this past Saturday at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut. Willards Island was still a warbler machine late in the morning and we were cranking out the birds. Some, like this individual, would briefly drift into point blank range…even with an excited, raucous crowd around us. All of the birds were as happy as our birding friends with all sorts of plentiful insects in the air and on the trees at this vital migratory site…and we were recording all of those...
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