Yellow-rumped Warblers Have Arrived - 21 Sep 2021

 

Rain and cold weather is supposed to hit us for the next several days. I was scheduled to photograph a cross-country meet for my nephew, but it was cancelled due to expected storms. The storms did not materialize in my area, so I decided to make a last-minute run down to the refuge and metropark. 

As I entered the shorp loop at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Humbug Marsh Unit I was alerted to the "Whiiit" call of a Magnolia Warbler in the dogwoods next to the creek. It was moving fast so I never got the camera on it. The rest of the loop was quiet; winds were blowing but the Sun was breaking through heavy clouds and humidity. This sleeping Mallard was my only avian subject.

As I returned to the entrance I was greeted by a flock of 20 or so mixed warblers. Most were Yellow-rumped Warblers, but a Nashville Warbler, Magnolia Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler were also spotted among them. They were bouncing off the vegetation like pinballs and the severe backlighting required binoculars to verify ID. 

Nashville Warbler. This time of year the birds can be confused w/ Mourning (incomplete eye-ring) and Connecticut Warblers (full eye-ring, gray throat, long undertail covert) so I had to verify a yellow throat and short undertail covert (long tail relative to undertail projection).




Blackpoll Warbler. Also confused with Cape May and Bay-breasted Warblers this guy was sporting his diagnostic orange tennis shoes.




The Yellow-rumps stole the show, however. Their arrival (to me) marks the end of  the fall warbler migration as they, and Palm Warblers are some of the last warblers to move through the area.

Yellow-rumped Warbler. Such elegant tiny warblers. I never tire of seeing them. To me they are lovely in all times of the year.





Detroit River IWR--Refuge Gateway (Humbug Marsh), Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 21, 2021 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
6 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  1
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)  1
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  2
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)  1
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  13

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S159738447

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

As the flock moved on I then headed over to the Marshland Museum of Lake Erie Metropark to walk the trails before the pending rains. Surprisingly the light was excellent; Sunshine through still trees and high humidity produced some great conditions for capturing still more Yellow-rumped Warblers arriving onsite.






My first Palm Warblers were also spotted. Their bobbing tails were diagnostic despite their position between me and the Sun. I'd have to wait until another time to get pics.

At the north end of the trail, just off the boardwalk, I spotted yet more Yellow-rumped Warblers, but a small brown finch appeared among them. The smooth, tan-colored bird looks to be a juvenile Indigo Bunting, but the size of the beak does tease Blue Grosbeak...



I'd walk the east side of the trail several times looking for warblers, but could only manage a quick photo of a Chestnut-sided Warbler. 


A Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew overhead but disappeared into the canopy while I chased the moving warblers that included Magnolia and Nashville. I did catch this doe a few feet away munching nonchalantly on the trailside.

  
I'd get myself home and into the garage just as the first showers of the next 2" of rain started falling.

Lake Erie Metropark--Marshlands Nature Center, Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 21, 2021 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
7 species

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)  1
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)  2
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  2
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)  1
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  6
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S159738558

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)