Chestnut-sided, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green & Magnolia Warblers Spring ’22

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These four warblers are very common in the Milwaukee area during spring migration, and this year was excellent for them. All of them can be found almost anywhere. They are so abundant that I usually see males, females and first spring birds of each. I really enjoy photographing the different plumages of them all as well. Each photo in this post, as is in every post, labeled (male, female or 1st spring) if you click on them. This way you can check to see if you know the correct plumages of each. A Chestnut-sided Warbler arrived on 4/25, the first of the two consecutive fallout days at Warnimont Park. I think this will be a record early arrival for the state. On 5/11 at Warnimont, I had 45 of them and on 5/15 I had 32. Chestnut-sided Warblers sing short fast song sounding like, pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha! I saw my first Black-and-white Warbler on 4/24, and numbers continued to grow until 5/11 when I found 27 at Warnimont. These warblers are usually found working along dead branches or tree trunks like a nuthatch or creeper. They sing a high-pitched, repetitive weesy, weesy, weesy, which may be difficult for some to hear. It is a very pretty song. I also saw my first Black-throated Green Warbler on 4/24 and my big day for them was also on 5/11, with 39. These warblers are constantly singing in spring and very easy to pick out. It is a rather loud, zee zee zee zee zo zee. I didn’t have my first Magnolia Warbler until 5/8 and on 5/11, I had 42 at Warnimont Park. I also had 33 on 5/15 at Warnimont as well. I find Magnolia Warblers, along with Chestnut-sided to have the most variable spring plumage, most likely because so many pass through the area. I see lots of females and first spring birds with both. Magnolia Warblers sing a very short song that is a whistled weta, weta, WETA, with last note being the loudest. All photos below are from the last 5 weeks in Milwaukee County. Enjoy! 

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Pine, Palm & Yellow-rumped Warblers in Spring ’22

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Pine

Pine Warbler is one of my favorites. However, I only saw one male this spring, and only a handful of females. Since they are an early arriving one, it’s possible they just went past us with our strong SW and SSW winds the several nights in late April. The one male I did see was by the Grant Park feeders, which is probably the same one that stops there every year. There isn’t much to say about Palm and Yellow-rumped. They arrive early and before you know it, there are hundreds of each, as was the case on 4/26 at Warnimont. These are the two most common warblers in our area during migration. Photos below are from the last several weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Pine Warbler

Palm Warbler (western)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Blackburnian & Cape May Warblers in May ’22

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I love these two warblers! Ha, who am I kidding, I love all warblers! Blackburnian Warbler is probably my second favorite though. Blackburnians were plentiful this spring and I had 22 of them on 5/11 at Warnimont Park. These can be found almost anywhere, but especially like flowering trees and evergreens. These warblers are harder for many to track down, because the song is high pitched. The main song is a rapid zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip titititi tseeeeee, with the final note much higher pitched, so high that many people simply cannot hear it. A less common song, teetsa teetsa teetsa teetsa, is heard mostly when males encounter each other. Cape May Warblers were scarce this spring. In fact, I don’t think I saw a male in breeding plumage! I had a first-spring male, that was still getting his colors and all the rest were female. Quite unbelievable really! They are usually quite common and easy to find along the entrance to Warnimont Park, along Sheridan Drive in the evergreen trees. Also, at Lake Park in the evergreens on the golf course. Then later in the spring, you can find them in any of the flowering trees. I’m not sure what the deal was this spring though, they must’ve been pushed a different direction with the winds on their big migration night. The most I had for one day was 3 on 5/11, and every other day I was out was one or zero. Photos below are from the last few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Blackburnian Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Mourning Warblers in May ’22

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This was a very good spring for Mourning Warblers in the Milwaukee area. Whitnall Park produced several along the creek corridor at Wehr as well as other places along the creek in the park. This is almost a guarantee every year, so if you miss out on the Mourning Warblers, check Whitnall any time after the May 10th. It’s also the best place to photograph them, as they are within 25′ of you at most times, foraging on the opposite side of the creek. They can be quite skittish, so be patient and avoid a lot of movement. This year however, my best views came at Warnimont Park, when I found one hopping around the pine trees near the 4-way intersection, on the NW corner of the archery range. I was walking with a friend over to the pines and it jumped out right in front of us, paying no attention just feeding in the grass. I was like, “woah, a Mourning Warbler!” So, we sat on the ground and watched it for about 25 minutes. It came so close to us at one point, that it was too close to focus on. My minimum focus distance is just over 14′. It was feeding the same way the Kentucky Warbler was at Sheridan Park, hopping in and out of the evergreens. I was also lucky enough to see two females this year, one at Lake Park and the other at Grant Park. The female has a broken eye ring and pale throat. Photos below are from the last few weeks at various Milwaukee County Parks. Enjoy!

Golden-winged, Blue-winged & Brewster’s Warblers in May ’22

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These warblers are spectacular when seen in the field, especially the male GWWA with his strong face pattern. I usually have the GWWA warblers feeding on the ground, picking through dried curled up leaves, looking for spiders. This year was no different. Warnimont Park is my favorite to find them doing this, in particular behind the archery range, just north of the golf parking lot. If you don’t see them on the ground, their song is quite easy to pick out, seee-bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, which is quite loud and easy to track down. on 5/11, I had 9 of them at Warnimont Park. The BWWA is usually higher up in the trees, but I also have them feeding on or near the ground as well, similar to the GWWA. This spring I was lucky enough to have a BWWA come down right in front of me and take a bath in the creek at Whitnall Park. Splashed around a bit and up and away he went! Warnimont Park is usually loaded with BWWA’s and I had 6 on 5/11. Although I didn’t fair as well as I usually do with them and photos. They are also easy to track down by song, as it is a very loud beee-bzzzzzz! They often seem like they are closer than they really are. The Brewster’s Warbler is a hybrid between the two species. It is the more dominant trait and is quite common where the species overlap. Brewster’s Warbler looks like a GWWA but has the black line through the eye like a BWWA. The one I saw this year at Warnimont, came on 5/11 and was the prettiest one I’ve seen. There was a lot of white on the throat, which really added to the overall coloring. Surprisingly, I see this sub-species just about every year and I’m always excited when I do. Someday, I would really love to see the Lawrence’s Warbler, which is the recessive trait of the two. Photos below are from the last few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Golden-winged Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

Brewster’s Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warblers in May ’22

Jeremy4 Comments

Usually, I do very good with this species each spring, but this year not so much. I saw a decent amount, but they just weren’t very cooperative. Whitnall Park is an excellent place to see them and the one male I saw was singing quite a bit. Minutes later I saw a female bounce past, which explains all of his singing. Then both of them disappeared and I never saw them again. I have no idea where they went! I even walked a mile down the creek and still nothing. I didn’t spend too much time this spring at Whitnall though, as Warnimont was just so much better. I can’t be everywhere at once! Photos below are from the last few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Worm-eating Warbler at Whitnall Park

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This morning I found a Worm-eating Warbler foraging along a creek at Whitnall Park. I kept hearing leaves crunching and when I finally turned to see what it was, it was already within 25′ of me. I didn’t even need binoculars to confirm, I could see clearly with my eyes. I couldn’t believe it! I turned my camera, and it quickly took off. I watched where it went, and then I saw a bird zoom out of the approximate area. I got my binoculars on it, and it turned out to be a female Magnolia Warbler. I had lost it! I then found it and lost it two more times, over the 2 hours. I have no idea where it went. I figured I would chase the reported, Yellow-breasted Chat at Lake Park. I spent a little over 2 hours down there and decided to go back to Whitnall in the late afternoon. After walking around about an hour and a half, I found it again, but way to the west of where I originally had it. The bird moved about an 1/8 mile or so. This time, I relocated it in a wider open area, without all the dense shrubs. I got off a few pictures and down it went into the water, bath time! So exciting to be able to see this rare warbler in the water! Photos below are from early this morning and late this afternoon. Enjoy!

Mourning Warblers in Milwaukee County

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This spring has been excellent for Mourning Warblers, in Milwaukee. Just the last week alone, I have had no less than 4 at any park I go to. These are one of my favorite warblers and I love when we have years like this! In normal years you just go sit by the logjam at Whitnall Park, and wait to see them come hopping through. Since we can’t do that anymore, I thought it would be tough to get good looks at any, especially with the leaf out weeks early. That hasn’t been the case though. It’s almost like I’ve been spoiled by them. Lake Park has been incredible for Mourning Warblers! A couple of days there, I had at least 6. They can usually be found foraging on the sides of the ravines. Warnimont Park was also very good and Whitnall Park had a few, along the creek on the north side of the park, away from the Wehr Nature Center. Pictures below are from the last couple weeks, in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!

Lake Park

Warnimont Park

Whitnall Park

Orioles and Grosbeaks at Whitnall Park

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In addition to the wonderful selection of warblers this past week at Whitnall Park, there have been a lot of orioles and grosbeaks. They have also been in the flowering trees, picking at the buds, petals and eating insects and worms or caterpillars. Baltimore Orioles have been busy building nests too, with one hanging over the waterfall creek, in the large willow tree. I found a Rose-breasted Grosbeak nest in an apple tree, too. I’m not sure if they are incubating yet, but both the male and female take turns on the nest, so I assume they are. An Orchard Oriole has been around the last couple days as well. He sings from the flowering trees and is quite skittish, as they usually are. These trees have sure produced the birds this spring, which has been a pleasant surprise. All of the photos below are from the past week at Whitnall Park. Enjoy!

Baltimore Oriole

Orchard Oriole

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Black-throated Blue Warbler and more… at Whitnall Park

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The Black-throated Blue Warbler that has been at Whitnall Park for the last week, finally decided to put on a show in front of several people! He was singing away in the white flowering tree just east of the bridge. Singing and eating, dropping all the way down to the water, before continuing to the other side. He went in the downed tree overhanging the creek. He even took a little break, right in front of everyone, closing his eyes for a minute or so. After the short break, he continued singing and up creek he went. Up until then, he had been relatively elusive. Perfect timing to enjoy a beautiful bird! He was still being seen as of today (5/10).