’23 Spring Warbler Migration

Jeremy16 Comments

Despite having terrible weather conditions in May, to produce huge numbers of warblers, I still ended up with 36 warbler species. I just didn’t have very many big days, like I’m used to. We were stuck with E, NE or N winds for the majority of the warbler migration, thanks to our “great” Lake Michigan! Of the 36 warblers, 35 of them were in Milwaukee County. The lone one outside of Milwaukee County, was a Painted Redstart that showed up in Sauk County. I missed one, a Black-throated Gray Warbler that made an appearance at Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine, and only because I was busy that day. Most of the county parks were just average at best. Warnimont Park was producing rather solid numbers most days, like usual and is still my favorite spring warbler park. One little gem, that was basically the county hotspot, was Shorewood Nature Preserve. This tiny little park, nestled between a couple mansions in Shorewood, hosted some great birds including, Worm-eating Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, multiple Yellow-throated Warblers, Prairie Warbler, multiple Hooded Warblers, and a Louisiana Waterthrush. All of those warblers are great for the county. Lake Park hosted a couple of Connecticut Warblers, like it usually does. Warnimont Park also a had several, however viewing is better a Lake Park for them. This is a very large gallery of photos, but warblers are my favorite and I spend a lot of time with them in the spring. As always, I try for male and female, along with first spring birds, to show the varying plumages between them. It’s tough to get them all though. All of the photos below are from Milwaukee County, with the exception being the Painted Redstart. Enjoy!

American Redstart

Bay-breasted Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

Canada Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Cerulean Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Connecticut Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler

Hooded Warbler

Kentucky Warbler

Louisiana Waterthrush

Magnolia Warbler

Mourning Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Northern Parula

Northern Waterthrush

Orange-crowned Warbler

Ovenbird

Painted Redstart

Palm Warbler

Pine Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Sorry, no photos of these this spring, but I did see and hear them twice.

Worm-eating Warbler, Northern Waterthrush & Ovenbird in May ’22

Jeremy2 Comments

Worm-eating Warbler is uncommon in Wisconsin. However, I think Milwaukee County has gotten one the last several years. This year I saw two! One was along a creek at Whitnall Park (5/9), and the other was singing at Warnimont Park (5/15) in the wooded area, east of hole #6. I was able to track down the one at Warnimont and sneak quietly within 25′ of him. I watched him eat spiders, caterpillars and midges, and was also constantly singing. The song is a dry, almost insect-like trill, similar to Chipping Sparrow. It was very hard to get wide open views of him though, as he stayed very low and in patches of thick brush. I still managed decent photos considering the thickets and it was the first time I was able to get one singing, which I love. Northern Waterthrush & Ovenbird are very common in Wisconsin, especially in Milwaukee County during migration. On 5/1, I had 10 Northern Waterthrush and 9 on 5/10, both at Whitnall Park. They can be found anywhere near any kind of water. They are usually singing throughout the entire day. There are many variations of the song, but for the most part it is a loud, ringing, three-part sweet sweet sweet swee wee wee chew chew chew chew. I find that they are very skittish, unless you’re standing still, and they fly and land near you. As soon as you move though, so do they. As for Ovenbird, I had 7 on 5/9 and 6 on 5/10, both at Whitnall Park as well. Ovenbird is found walking the forest floor, picking through leaves and downed branches, looking for insects. They sing a rather loud song, starting quieter and getting louder with each note. It is a rapid, resounding tea-cher, Tea-cher, TEA-cher, TEA-CHER. The photos below were taken in May. Enjoy!

Worm-eating Warbler

Northern Waterthrush

Ovenbird

Who’s taking my picture???

Jeremy18 Comments

This spring so many warblers have looked directly at me while photographing them. I will get them like that occasionally, but not like this year. It has been all of the warbler species too, not just a few of them. I’m not sure if they see the huge front element on my lens, that reflects back at them or if they hear the camera shutter clicking 10 frames per second. Either way I’ve found it to be quite funny how the photos turn out. Something different than seeing the normal profile picture. Photos below are from the last few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!