Blue-winged Warbler Series

Funny how birdwatching goes ... You may never have seen a species, or at least know that you've seen or heard one. Then one day when you see that particular species, You see and hear them all over the place!

This was the case with the Blue-winged Warbler (BWW). A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were hiking near a swamp and I spotted a bird which initially I thought might be a Prothonotary Warbler. After a bit of a chase I got a better view, with binoculars, and saw it was a BWW—my first.

In spotting him, I saw (and heard) him singing and I can't tell you newbie birders how important it is to learn the songs. The same goes for the photogs in the group, though I bet many are becoming birders by virtue of the many quality photos I see here and how quick people are to ID the birds within. Knowing the songs can tip you off immediately if there's an interesting 'visitor' nearby.

So this morning (actually yesterday morning now) I awoke to the usual bird sounds and decided to go out to see what I could photograph. As I walked through the field behind my house I heard the Common Yellowthroats, Tree Swallows, a House Wren, and Yellow Warblers in addition to the more common Cardinals, Blue Jays, Red-winged Blackbirds etc. That's when I heard the buzzy beee-bzzzz (Thank you Mr. Peterson) call of the BWW and knew right away to look for him.

OK, enough babbling, here are some shots.

In a Viburnum shrub looking for breakfast ...

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Congratulation on a new species for you Carl and thanks for posting these excellent shots...the third is my favourite. To learn the songs, I assume you can buy a CD of various bird calls?

Thanks Scott. Yes, there are several CDs out there to help learn the songs. I recommend Peterson's Field Guide Series to Bird Songs of Eastern and Central North America. I think the best way though is to observe as you shoot and if you see a bird singing, it makes a strong record in your brain.

Great set Carl, 3 pic is almost perfect for me.

Very nice captures of a beautiful Warbler. I agree that knowing songs can help alot in finding new species. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice set Carl. Never seen this bird before. I have trouble recognizing the songs and putting it to the bird, but when I hear a new one, I sure go on the lookout.

Terrific set here of this little beauty, The third with the full song, tongue pose is wonderful but the are all nice. Couldn't agree with you more on the vocals. At the very least it prepares you

cannylad wrote in post #3273240
Great set Carl, 3 pic is almost perfect for me.

Thanks Cannylad. I initially thought "If only that little branch was out of the way" ... but it's part of nature too. At the same time I took these I also got a few shots of an Eastern Towhee who was try to steal the show, but he was in the grass and fairly obscured. Still, it's a bird in it's environment and I think that is overlooked a lot here with people trying to get birds in unobscured isolation.

rathke wrote in post #3273963
Very nice captures of a beautiful Warbler. I agree that knowing songs can help alot in finding new species. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comment Rathke, and I'm glad you enjoyed the shots.

canonloader wrote in post #3274115
Very nice set Carl. Never seen this bird before. I have trouble recognizing the songs and putting it to the bird, but when I hear a new one, I sure go on the lookout.

Thanks Mitch. It takes some practice to learn the songs. Start with the easy ones, the Song Sparrows, the Cardinals, the Chickadee and Titmouse, etc. The rest will come with practice and observation.

Gary Fairhead wrote in post #3274558
Terrific set here of this little beauty, The third with the full song, tongue pose is wonderful but the are all nice. Couldn't agree with you more on the vocals. At the very least it prepares you

Thanks Gary. I was pleased with the results, especially since my camera/lens were hunting for focus (so frustrating) and the black flies kept "bugging me for breakfast"—pun intended!

Congrats on bagging a first. Very nice shots.

Wow ! Thanks for sharing. Havn't seen this one.

Excellent images of a beautiful bird, Carl. Very well done.

I like them all, but the last one is great.

what wonderful shots. i like the second and third pictures composition. the branches form a perfect frame around that cute, little bird. well done!!

Great shots of a bird we don't see too often on this forum. I agree about learning the songs...

Thanks philc123, RandyMays, EdV, D.C., howzitboy and dancad. I learned a new one yesterday, but was unable to get any shots because of the leaves and the short time he stayed—Kentucky Warbler.