Sunday, April 3, 2016

Finding April Warblers In A Snowy Forest


 Mother nature pulled her April Fool's prank on us this weekend by dropping a little bit of fresh snow. I decided to take a ride through the local forest hoping to find some early-arriving warblers. Heavy winds caused a lot of fallen branches in the road. I had to remove several of them and also maneuver around low-hanging snow covered branches while I was driving.
The only birds I saw for the first mile were dozens of robins which seemed to be unfazed by the weather. Eventually I encountered other species including a Hermit Thrush and a Red-bellied Woodpecker which picked up some sort of acorn from the side of the road. 
 I did see (mostly hear) a couple of Pine Warblers during my travels and expected this yellowish bird be one of them but it turned out to be a Palm Warbler hidden in a pine tree pumping its tail.
 When it was time for me to leave the sun finally came out and I was able to take in a nice view of the small swamp across from the reservoir. All in all it wasn't a bad morning of birding because at least I was able to get out for a while and see my first spring warblers of the year.

4 comments:

Michelle said...

A couple of nice shots and you have some really pretty scenes!

Unknown said...

A wonderful narrative. I am always surprised at how early spring birds arrive. not as daring as you to take snowy walks, I Wai till it's dry. Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

A wonderful narrative. I am always surprised at how early spring birds arrive. not as daring as you to take snowy walks, I Wai till it's dry. Thanks for sharing.

Anu said...

The photo of that small swamp is so beautiful. Very soon all warblers will come :)