These two warblers are a little more uncommon than most, but still seen throughout migration. Bay-breasted Warblers are beautiful, with their striking combination of colors! They are also hard to hear for a lot of people, because their song is a series of very high pitched, szee or teesi notes with the final note being accented. BBWA are usually found in the evergreens, and that is where I found most of the ones, I saw this year. The golf course at Warnimont has many groups of evergreens mixed in throughout the whole course and can be very good for them. That is where I found the majority of them this May. The high day for them this year was 5/15, when I had 14. Blackpoll Warblers can be found anywhere. Their bright orange legs really stand out, especially against their black and white body. I don’t have a special place to find them. I see them high in the canopy and low in the shrubs or in evergreens as well. They have a higher pitched song, but I find its louder than most and easier to hear. I often think they are closer than they really are. Their short song gently fades in, increases in volume, and then fades back out, tsit tsit tsit TSIT TSIT Tsit tsit tsit. BPLW are definitely easier to find in the fall, when it seems like every other warbler is a Blackpoll. The high day this spring for them was also on 5/15, when I had 8. Photos below are from the last few weeks. Enjoy!
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Very Nice photos of these two warbler species. Thru the years I too have noticed it is a lot easier to find Blackpoll Warblers in the Fall migration than it is to find them in the Spring migration. In my yard the only time I have seen the Bay-breasted Warblers is in my mature conifer trees, just like you mentioned that is where you usually find them as well in the park.
Thank you Bob! It could be different in different areas, but those are just my observations each year in Milwaukee County, which seem like yours as well.