If it’s May, it’s Warblers

In early May we are usually to be found in Northern Ohio along the Lake Erie coastline with our camera gear. The Black Swamp Bird Observatory organizes The Biggest Week in American Birding each year to celebrate and to educate about the warbler migration. Hundreds, if not thousands, of birders and photographers congregate to view the colorful migrants flitting through the trees and brush along the lake as they refuel and gather strength for the Lake Erie crossing. This year, however, The Biggest Birding Week event has been cancelled. The birds will continue their migration without the throngs of admirers who are in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In lieu of a 2020 visit to Magee Marsh and environs we thought it might enliven the isolation we are experiencing to post (and re-post) our warbler images. Most are from Northern Ohio in 2018 when we experienced an ‘epic’ day with the warblers. It was a chilly, windy day and a ‘late spring’, perfect for warbler watching. There was little to no foliage on the trees and undergrowth and the wind gusts forced the birds to hunker down at lower levels. We hope you enjoy seeing these lovely little migrants who are winging their way to northern breeding grounds as their biological imperative dictates with or without us.

The various warbler species follow similar routes, most from their Central and South American wintering grounds to more northerly reaches (Canada and the Northern US) where they gather to breed. These New World warblers are not closely related to Old World or Australian warblers and those that are shown in our gallery are all members of the family Parulidae. Most are of low concern to conservationists; however, three of those shown are designated as either in steep decline or declining due, primarily, to a loss of habitat.