On The Wild Side: Tips for Wily Warbler Watchers this migration season

By ANN and ERIK BROKELMAN

There’s something wonderful about spring mornings in the park. After a long winter, the woods come alive with both colour and song. Around this time each year, I find myself wandering through places like Tommy Thompson, Ashbridges Bay, and Rosetta McClain, keeping an eye out for the first signs of spring flowers.

Just recently, my friend Dianne and I took a road trip to Carden Alvar Provincial Park, where the fields and woods were bursting with blooms: trilliums, prairie smoke, marsh marigolds, trout lilies, and more. The flowers were stunning on their own, but they also signalled something just as exciting: the start of the spring songbird migration.

Today’s story focuses on some of those migrating birds; the cute little ones you’ve likely seen flitting through the trees, even if you didn’t know exactly what you were looking at: warblers.

These tiny birds move quickly and don’t sit still for long, making them tough to photograph. But the thrill of spotting one, and the hope of catching a great photo, makes them one of my favourite birding challenges.

Warblers come in a variety of colours, especially when in their breeding plumage, and if you start looking for them, you’ll see them on display right around now. They are arriving in the GTA by the thousands, searching for food, territory, and mates.

As with many bird species, the males’ colours are spectacular, while the females wear more muted tones. Still, every bird feels like a prize when you finally catch sight of one.

I’ll never forget the first warbler I ever saw, a Hooded Warbler, back in 2007, when I had just started birding. (See the photo at the top of this story.) I didn’t know what it was.

Anyway, after I spotted the little guy, I walked around until I found another birder and asked him if he had any idea what it could be. (This was before I had a smartphone to look it up.) He went wide-eyed and exclaimed something like: “That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!”

I led him to the spot, and sure enough, the warbler popped out as if to say “G’day” before disappearing again. He was thrilled, and so was I. Chris Earley, in one of his books, describes the Hooded Warbler as a ‘beauty of plumage and charm of voice’, and I couldn’t agree more.

Another warbler highlight from this spring was spotting a Cerulean Warbler during a walk through a local cemetery. It was a stunning shade of blue, and my photo in this article doesn’t do it justice. I find these birds incredibly hard to see, and even harder to photograph. The little bird never stopped moving, insisted on staying high in the treetops, and was also just out of reach of a good picture.

If you’re hoping to spot one yourself, my best advice is: listen. Warblers can be tough to see. You’ve probably noticed that by now, but their songs give them away.

I don’t have the linguistic talent to describe their sounds with my words, so I recommend you go onto YouTube, and listen for yourselves. Maybe save the video in a playlist so that, if you hear something flitting above you, moving so fast it’s hard to get your binoculars on it, you might be able to use the songs to identify your bird. Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t get a perfect look at one; if you go birding with the main intent of listening to the warblers’ beautiful songs I honestly think you’ll come home with a smile on your face!

One of the best guides I’ve come across is Warblers of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America by Canadian author Chris Earley. It’s incredibly helpful, with photos of spring and fall plumages for both males and females. A must-have for any warbler watcher.

Wily Warbler Watchers? Try saying that three times fast… Bonus level: Wily warbler watchers whisper while warbler’s whistle. Thanks for reading!