Spring Birds - Warblers and Vireos

We should be having fun in Churchill and seeing lots of birds right now!

Warblers were always abundant in Spring, I saw 19 species of warblers this spring. Our yard is a great habitat for migrating warblers, some of the highlight warblers I saw this spring were, a couple of Canada Warblers, Magnolian Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula, Cape May Warbler and a Wilson's Warbler.

I didn't get pictures of every single warbler I saw, but pretty close!

Warblers are one of the joys of spring, their beautiful songs and bright colours (usually)

Me and my brother were excited when we saw a Northern Waterthrush while we were out birding, a lifer! I've always wanted to see one.

Northern Waterthrush

Tennessee Warblers were pretty common, some even coming to our fruit we put out.

Tennessee Warbler beneath feeder.

 Blackpoll Warblers also were commonly seen on any walk you took through the bush, they also came to our oranges, another plus for putting fruit out!

Blackpoll Warbler

 I got a picture of a female Blackpoll eating berries in a bush.

female Blackpoll Warbler

I love Ovenbirds and there funky walking style, I got this picture as one came right to our window.

Ovenbird

One of my favourite warblers I saw this spring was a Cape May Warbler, they have such fantastic colours, my brother was able to get this picture, and that's the only one we have of a Cape May.

Cape May Warbler

Yellowrumps may have been the most common, but I don't get bored of them, they are really pretty birds.

female Yellow-rumped Warbler

male Yellow-rumped Warbler

 Another striking warbler is a Black and White Warbler. Such contrast between the black and white.

Black and White Warbler

 And another picture of a yellowrump.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 I didn't see a redstart until pretty late into spring.

female American Redstart

American Redstart

Yellow Warblers were fairly common, popping in and out of bushes,

Yellow Warbler (with another bird in the background, I'm not quite sure what it is)

 Orange-crowned Warblers were not too common, but were easily found in our yard still,

Orange-crowed Warbler

female Black and White Warbler

Another treat was a Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green warbler

Palm Warblers were very common, hopping along the ground, they were excellent photo subjects.

A closeup of a Palm Warbler

Possibly my favorite warbler of the spring, a northern Parula, I was able to snap one picture before it flew, luckily it was a good picture!

Northern Parula

Magnolian Warblers were also one of my favorites, they are such handsome birds, with their striking contrast between the yellow and black. The first one I saw I thought was a Canada Warbler, it was darting in and out of bushes, I hardly got a picture. From the picture I figured it was a Magnolian Warbler from the size of the stripes. Soon I saw more Magnolians and I got some really good pictures.

Magnolian warbler

I didn't see too many vireos, but I got three species, Red-eyed, Warbling, and Blue-headed Vireo.

One time a Red-eyed Vireo hit the window, I almost accidentally stepped on it. Luckily it was fine and flew away, but before that I was able to get some really close up shots!

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

 Another vireo that I got a picture of was a Blue-headed Vireo. When I first saw it, I thought it was a nashville warbler, but I was a bit uneasy about it, the throat looked too white. I tried to see if it was anything else, but I couldn't find anything that looked as much like it as a Nashville Warbler. My brother convinced me it was a Nashville, so that's what I thought it was for awhile, until I woke up one day and looked at my bird calender, it read 'Blue-headed Vireo', and it looked exactly like the bird in the picture, Blue-headed Vireo was a lifer too!

Blue-headed Vireo

Stay tuned for the next post!!