WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARBLERS’ WISDOM

I already knew that we humans are woefully slow to see what’s happening in the natural world, but here comes scientific evidence that even without TV weathercasts, warblers foresee weather problems far better than some slow-moving bipeds.

Here’s one newspaper account of how warblers fled the U.S. to avoid a killer storm.

Here’s a summary of that same report on warbler wisdom from a science website.

That violent series of storms killed 35 humans who chose not to migrate.  Final Score: Warblers +1, Humans -35.

BIGGEST WEEK, DAY #1

Today was the opening of the Biggest Week in American Birding festival here inn northwest IowaOhio. The four of us from Partnership for International Birding and Neblina Tours of Ecuador have already seen 110 species. Some samples:Evenb here the increasingly scarce Upland Sandpiper is considered a good fine. These two were walking in the grass along the road margin today. Winter here has lingered and the birds could find grass tall enough to hide in.

Blue-headed Vireo, the eastern counterpart of our western Cassin’s Vireo.

Chestnut-sided Warbler gives me the eye.

Eastern Kingbird

You know how much I love owls if you read my blogs. Eastern version of Screech-Owl.

Ovenbird feeding on the forest floor.

Purple Martin atop martin housing development at Ottawa NWR. They are big and aggressive e enough to drive off the real estate greedy House Sparrows.

Swainson’s Thrush along the Magee Marsh boardwalk. All these birds are within a mile of the south shore of Lake Erie where the winds comes whipping off the waves.

WARBLERS ALL AROUND

Cold, windy weather brought migrating and nesting warblers down to eye level at Magee Marsh today.

How well do you know your eastrern wood warblers?
TOP TO BOTTOM:
American Redstart X 3
Blackburnian X 2
Black-throated Green X 3
Cape May X 2
Nashville X 2
Northern Parula X 2
Yellow X 2