10 Species of Warblers

I had an unexpectedly good morning birding the neighborhood today. It's the best time of year -- spring migration peaks the first few days of May in the Austin area -- but the steady south winds usually make the migrating birds harder to find. (They have a tailwind so they keep flying north.) Still, this time of year it's worth getting out to bird as often as you can. Things started slow and frustrating. There seemed to be more traffic on the roads than usual, and there were several people mowing their lawns on the path I took. But when I crossed the Lake Creek Trail footbridge onto the flood plain property things got much better. I quickly found a Wilson's Warbler and then a male Canada Warbler. Then I heard the begging calls of juvenile Carolina Chickadees, so I followed them. There are often other birds in loose association with family groups of chickadees or wrens, so these groups are always worth investigating. As the parent chickadees fed their begging fledglings, I saw these additional warbler species nearby:

• Black-and-white Warbler (pictured)
• Magnolia Warbler
• Nashville Warbler
• American Redstart
• Black-throated Green Warbler
• Yellow Warbler

2 more warbler species that turned up in the low brush were Common Yellowthroat and a Yellow-breasted Chat. A nice male Baltimore Oriole and a single Mississippi Kite were the other interesting migrants I saw this morning. The only picture I got was of the Black-and-white Warbler. If you click on the picture and look closely, I think you can see a band on its left leg.

The wind is supposed to shift to the north tonight, and thunderstorms are expected tonight and tomorrow. This means migrating birds will be grounded and easier to find. So watch the weather and get out between the storms to find some birds!