Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Island Warblers


A dirt road ran behind the camp and across the way was an abandoned farm, the land now owned by the owner of Bass Creek Resort. Besides a decaying house, barn and rusted pieces of old farm machinery, there was a creek through the property, long lines of log fencing and large patches of dogwood bushes. This was a birder's paradise.

American Redstart (male)

If you stood still for thirty seconds you would be sure to see a new warbler moving in the leaves of the trees and bushes. I nearly made myself crazy trying to get pictures, and then decided to spend most of my time with the binoculars instead.

Common Yellowthroat (male)

There are so many yellowish warblers! I had to keep my field guide handy as I tried to identify them. In a recent post, Larry admitted it was difficult for him to identify some warblers, so I felt I could risk some errors here. Here are a few pictures with the ID's I felt were best. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Yellow Warbler

I still have a number of fuzzy or backlit photos to try and identify. I have pictures of at least two kinds of flycatchers and may never determine what they are for sure. I saw many new birds, but was also surprised by the birds I did not see. Cardinals and chickadees were nowhere to be found. I did not realize that cardinals have moved north to southern Ontario fairly recently and they are not found on Manitoulin Island.

Chestnut-sided Warbler (thanks Larry and Tom)

Our Rose of Sharon shrub in our yard did not survive the winter. I think I will replace it with dogwood as it seemed to be a bird magnet up here. The flowers, berries and red branches are lovely to look at.
Warblers are like jewels, an unexpected blur of bright colour and a sweet sound in the trees. I will have to study them over the winter and try to identify more that are peeking through the leaves on the island next year.

9 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of planting a dogwood next spring too. I'm always looking for ways to draw birds into my backyard. Your photos are great. I understand about putting the camera down. Sometimes I feel like my camera gets in the way, distances me from the birds around me.

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  2. Hi Ruth,

    I, too, understand the frustration with the camera. I've been leaving it docked inside frequently, too, so I can enjoy looking and not focusing.

    We lost a year-old Japanese Willow this summer - don't know why, but I like the idea you suggested of planting a Dogwood. We'll consider that in October.

    Good photos, Ruth! When you have your camera, you know how to zero in on those birds!

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  3. I actually don't like taking photos because it gets in the way of just observing.-Very nice photos that you took-The bottom one seems like to have an awful lot of yellow on the head-I would be unsure of that one and seek another opinion.-

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  4. I've only ever seen the Pine Warbler and the Yellow-rumped, so I'd be stumped too Ruth! Sounds like a lovely place to bird.

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  5. I'm thinking Chestnut-sided Warbler, but if you don't mind-I'd like to run the photo past someone to be sure-thanks-

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  6. Lynne- I cleared a spot for a dogwood in my garden last night. My camera has a shutter delay of that is enough to make me miss shots I would get with a faster camera. I don't want to carry a huge camera and lens though. I enjoyed birding with the binoculars far more and had to use my brain to remember details.

    Mary- Whatever you plant, just make sure it has good berries and good foliage for birds to hide in. I have no idea what the climate range for dogwood bushes is.

    Larry- Thanks for helping with the ID on such a poor picture. That last warbler looked very yellow- greenish and I thought it might be a black-throated green warbler. But it didn't fit 100% either.

    Jayne- Warblers don't frequent feeders and make you do leg work to find them. The best time to see them is before the leaves come out, but that is such a short season.

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  7. Anonymous8:32 am GMT-4

    I agree with Larry, my first though was Chestnut-sided Warbler!! Great series of pictures of these warblers and looks like a great spot for sure!

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  8. Tom and Larry- Thanks. I looked up the Chestnut-sided Warbler in the 3 books I have at home. One book said, "Immatures are usually without chestnut marks but can be told by their bright green backs..."
    That is what I saw.

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  9. Tom looks at Warblers from 2 inches away-that's good enough for me.-That's good that you went back and checked the books-This place that you went looks like a great spot, and would make for a great painting too!

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