Every spring, I see a lot of these warblers, both male and female. All three have all been in the Milwaukee area since 4/25, when we had favorable SW winds over the weekend. They showed in good numbers that early too. 4/26 was a big day for these three as warblers as well and I had 8 Nashville, 13 Tennessee and 45 Orange-crowned, including 2 of the gray-headed sub-species. These three continued to have a strong presence all the way through the spring migration and on 5/11, I had 47 Nashville, 31 Tennessee and 14 Orange-crowned. This was several days early for the huge Tennessee push and a week late for big numbers of Orange-crowned. Never a good sign to have that many Tennessee Warblers that early, because they represent the back end of migration. The photos below have been taken in the Milwaukee area since 4/25. Enjoy!
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!
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!
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!
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!
I was also fairly lucky with some warblers bathing, right in front of me. Lake Park and Whitnall Park are usually very good places to view this behavior. Whitnall Park has a creek that runs through it and is accessible in many areas. Lake Park has ravines and most of the time a small stream of water running through them. The key to finding where they bathe, is finding protection near the water. By this, I mean they want to come down into a tree overhanging or next to the water, a small bush near it or raspberry vines that are thicker for examples. This way they feel protected at a vulnerable moment and have a hiding spot should there be any danger. In my experience, when one comes down, be prepared because more are coming and coming fast! It happens so quickly and poof, they’re gone! I’ve had up to 6 different warblers in one little pool before. A lot of times I just happen to stumble upon them bathing. However, if you have more patience you can choose to sit and wait, but it may take a couple hours before you get any action. The photos below have been taken the few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!
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!
In addition to the Connecticut Warbler being so cooperative yesterday, a beautiful male Cerulean Warbler put on quite a show for a few of us. I was able to locate it by song and watched it move along the trees to the east side of the locust ravine. There I was able to go up from the ravine and get some rather low pictures of this bird, that thought it was higher up. The bonus of having steep ravines! We watched it for about 10 minutes feeding on insects and singing his little heart out, bouncing around the branches. After that, he flew off to the east bluff, near the new bridge being constructed. I was able to relocate him about 45 minutes later, on the east side of the locust ravine again. It sounds like it was seen again today, though I never heard it while I was there. Maybe it will stick around a few more days. Photos below are from yesterday morning. Enjoy!
This morning was very good at Lake Park. I chose to start here because I was hoping that the Connecticut Warbler was still going to be around. Well, not only was he still around, but he was also the most cooperative Connecticut Warbler ever!!! He would literally walk right to you if standing still. Best looks I think I will ever get of one! Then a little later, a second one was found. Both were in the Locust Ravine, the cooperative one was on the north end. I didn’t try for the south one, so I’m not sure how he was, but a few people said they got good photos as well. He was just walking around the ravine, in and out of the water, feeding on the insects. They are both still present. Photos below are from the morning. Good luck if you go! Enjoy!
Yesterday was my best bird day in my entire life!!! I spent almost 13 hours at Warnimont Park and walked a little over 7.5 miles. I had 141 species and 32 warbler species (including Brewster’s)!!! Bird #141 for the day was a female Blue Grosbeak, a county bird for me. She was feeding high in a tree, near the path in the center of the park. It was early in the evening and the sun was setting, so even though she was high in tree, she was properly lit by the sun. I took 5760 photos yesterday, and it will take some time to get through those, but there are plenty of warbler pictures to come. As of 10am, the Blue Grosbeak was relocated north, closer to the golf course. Maybe there are 2 of them??? Photos below are from yesterday evening. Enjoy!
