Amazing images of some beautiful migratory birds
By Dan Jordan, wildlife photographer
Have you heard? Bird is the word! Of course, this is a reference to the lyrics of a song from 1963 called Surfin’ Bird, by the Trashmen. Peter Griffin from Family Guy (Season 7) probably made the lyric more famous than the original with his quirky repetitive rendition of the “Bird, Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word” lyric. Anyways, in this series of articles, Bird [really is] the Word!
I have become a wildlife photographer in my retirement years. I travel extensively to find wildlife, but most of my encounters and the resulting images are from right here in our local area.
It has been a few weeks since my last installment of Bird is the Word. In the Ninth installment of this series, published a while back, I shared images and discussed local woodpecker species. This week, my focus shifts to what I call the explosion of warblers in our area.
I use the Merlin app on my phone to identify birds by their songs and/or calls. I find this very useful when I’m outside and unsure of what species I am hearing. This time of year, during the great migration, I am amazed at the number of species that Merlin identifies. Most of the birds that Merlin tells me are around, I don’t see, but I can hear them. Warblers are tiny birds and tend to hide out in the canopy, high in the trees and behind leaves. When I spot one, it is a very pleasant surprise. So, it is not surprising that many people never see them.
I joined the Cattaraugus County Bird Club and Pfeiffer Nature Center for one of their annual bird walks on May17. These events are held annually at the Pfeiffer Nature Center, Eshelman Property, in Portville, NY. Birds, warblers in particular, tend to ‘hang out’ this time of year at this venue which features meadows, wooded areas, marshes, and a creek. Indeed, we spotted, and I photographed a wide variety of warblers and other bird species during this event. In this article, I will share several of my images with a brief description of the species.
The first image is of a common warbler, called the chestnut sided warbler. They are tiny but have very strong voices. We could hear chestnut-sided warblers singing almost the whole time we were strolling through the nature center’s property. Can you see why this warbler is called the chestnut-sided warbler?
This next image is of a warbler I photographed a week earlier at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. It is named yellow-rumped warbler. Again, it is easy to tell where that name originated.
Here’s another of the yellow-rumped warbler, this time in flight. It’s yellow rump is not visible from this angle.
Back to the Pfeiffer Nature Center for this next species, the blue-winged warbler. I’ve noticed that there are a large number of species of warblers which are yellow, this one included. Its wings are dark, with a hint of a blue hue, hence their name. This image was captured from a long distance and the warbler is partially silhouetted, so the image does not do justice to its colors.
The next warbler species photographed during the bird walk is the yellow-throated warbler, another of the yellow-colored species. I don’t see this bird very often, but Merlin tells me we have one or more hanging about our home almost daily during the month of May.
The yellow-throated warbler looks to have a raccoon mask but with a bright yellow throat.
The next is yet another yellow-colored warbler, properly called the yellow warbler.
And if you haven’t seen enough yellow in this article, here’s an image of a yellow warbler in flight.
So, it’s pretty clear that we saw a lot of warblers along the trails during the bird walk, but there were other bird species too. I’ll share three images of non-warbler species that I photographed.
First is the grey catbird. Most people don’t get to see the catbird’s red rump. It doesn’t show much unless it is flying or perched ‘just right’. Well, it is clearly visible in this image!
Catbirds are in the mockingbird family and have quite a repertoire of calls and songs. Many/most of them are vocals they have ‘borrowed’ from other species. They also meow, hence their name.
The next species is a rather common one this time of year. Having just returned from their winters in Central America; the Baltimore oriole can be seen adding color to many neighborhoods. One or more orioles seemed to follow us around the Pfeiffer trails during the bird walk, this one showing off his ‘catch of the day’.
The last image I am sharing is of a female, eastern bluebird. As I was leaving the property, I noticed a head protruding from a bluebird nesting box. I assumed it to be that of a sparrow or wren, both of which have taken over most of the bluebird houses. To my surprise (and delight), when she popped out of the box and perched nearby, she was, indeed, a bluebird. She posed nicely for me for quite some time.
If you’re interested in birding, I encourage you to join a local bird club. There is so much to see and learn about birds when you surround yourself with knowledgeable people and their outings, like this bird walk cosponsored by the Cattaraugus County Bird Club, are fun. For more about the Pfeiffer Nature Center and their two properties, check out their Facebook page and/or their website, https://pfeiffernaturecenter.org.
I plan to submit more in this series of anecdotes about my local wildlife encounters in the future. If you have any questions or comments for me, or even suggestions, I can be reached at dan@jordanphotog.com. Thank you for your interest in my work.
