Sunday, October 12, 2014

Palm Warbler

Every now and then you can find me hanging out on the path that surrounds Kingfisher Pond at Bernheim Arboretum. The pond itself is so small that if you blink, you might miss it. However, it is a good spot for bird watching which I did today. This area of Bernheim has a lot of trees and bushes near the pond which attracts lots of different species of birds.
As I stood on the path that surrounds the pond, a small bird sat on a nearby tree for a few seconds allowing me to capture a few images. When I got home I did a search on the internet to find out what type of bird he was thinking perhaps he could be a Warbler. And discovered he is a Warbler, a Palm Warbler. Not sure how he got his name although he spends his winters in the Caribbean. He is a Life List bird for me which is even better.
I learned that Palm Warblers breed in the farthest northern part of Canada than any other Warbler species. They migrate from that northern Canada summer breeding ground to the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean in winter. This particular Palm Warbler is an adult and was sporting its Fall plumage.
After searching for what type of Warbler this was, I have come to the conclusion you could go mad identifying Warblers as there are so many of them. And to make matters worst, once you do identify what type of Warbler then you have to figure out if it is a juvenile or an adult, a male or a female, and then what plumage is it sporting. Maddening.

I have another bird I will post this week that I captured images of near the pond. I haven't quite put my finger on his identification although he could be a Grosbeak of some sort. I did see a Cardinal, a Cedar Waxwing and a Black Capped Chickadee in the same vicinity. I expected I might find a Waxwing what with all of the bushes heavily laden with berries. And yes, I have images of those too to share soon. I hope you had a great weekend. Here in Kentucky, we could use a bit of sunshine and I don't mean the peak through the clouds kind like we had today. It has been gloomy for days, rained most of last week, just ugly. ENJOY!

3 comments :

  1. Well, he's a beauty, but I expect he'll soon be moving on to warmer climes. I know so little about birds - I like others to identify them and tell me some facts! Hope your sun returns soon. We got about 6" of snow.

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  2. Beautiful, and more to come, you were there at the very right time. Hope the sunshine comes and stays. down here we are almost in a heat wave for October .sleeveless top and lightweight pants for outside, thick winter socks all packed away, and up to20C and more. Cheers,Jean.

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  3. That was a very nice find Carol. Your warblers in 'fall' plumage, especially juveniles, can be very tricky to ID as I know from experience!

    No sunshine here either ... another wet week for us.

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