May Migration
Happy spring migration to all who celebrate! It’s been an exciting few weeks, with just a ton of cool birds out and about. In the past few weeks, I’ve logged three new lifers, including
the elusive Virginia Rail, a bird that hides in the tall grass and that I was truly lucky to see. Serena saw a group of other birders gathered around and said “let’s go there.” Thanks :)
the elusive Yellow-breasted Chat, a bird that likes to walk through the tall grass and skulk around. I got lucky and was with a group of four birders who helped me find this one.
the elusive Hooded Warbler, a warbler that likes to hang out deep in the hedge and stays pretty low to the ground. I didn’t get to take a photo, but I am just so pleased to have seen one of these guys in real life.
There’s so many birds I have yet to see even here in Chicago, but increasingly a lot of the ones I haven’t found are harder and harder to find, which makes sense. (This isn’t always true, and every once in awhile the migration gods will bring a shorebird or something way out of their range, like the Laughing Gull I saw just hanging out on the beach.) But each of these three birds have vexed me for a while - I have seen reports of and gone looking for them and completely missed out so many times. I’m just glad I can move on to my next targets.
What’s next? This years goal is a trio of warblers that I find mystifying because so many others seem to see them (yes, yes comparison is the thief of joy). The Hooded Warbler is one, but the other two are the Mourning Warbler and the Connecticut Warbler. All three seem to hang out low to the ground and often completely obscured. If I get photos of any of these guys this season I promise to be very happy.
The other highlight of these last few weeks was an incredible male Canada Warbler. Last Sunday was an overcast day and the lighting was pretty bad, but it was just so magical to see one of my favorite birds just inches away at times. They are so beautiful - small and vibrant and jumpy and a delicate necklace of black spots that I just find so stunning. I’m happy with every sighting and photo I get of these birds.
