All that Glitters is not a Warbler

To my way of thinking, a good ramble around Halibut Point blends purposeful alertness with mindless abandon. Though it sounds contradictory it just means that different mental compartments need a rest while others take stage, like in highway driving. On these rambles the vigilant compartments are systematically scanning both outer and inner environments, alert to significant patterns of concern or amusement. 

And so it was last week that I designated The Warbler Tree among the multitude of red oaks in the Park. I fabricated an idea with both factual and fantastical branches. The story rippled from leafy canopies of observation and  imagination. It gathered or omitted features that presented themselves for threading into this particular embroidery of the landscape.

Blackburnian Warbler

What, for instance, should I do with evocative photos like this of the Blackburnian Warbler spotted in a different red oak tree?

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Or the photo of the lively masquerader in The Warbler Tree that was not a warbler?

American Goldfinch

Or a bird with entirely different dietary interests (and bill) from the insectivorous warblers? How much can a good story tell?

At one point in the scenario something large and anomalous foraged through the tree gleaning who knows what among its flowers.

A female Red-winged Blackbird

It looked and behaved more like a muted Oriole than the mate of the glossy Red-winged Blackbird singing in the cattail marsh.

Warbling Vireo

Science and adventure introduced a species from the fringes of the Warbler World, a tiny mouse-colored relative with a sturdy vireo bill rather than a pointed little sticker.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Those diverse beaks have everything to do with specialties in finding nourishment in the oak tree.

Their extravagant plumages, on the other hand‒Who can account for those?

The Warbler Tree

Wind, weather, and driving instinct finally funneled migrating warblers to Halibut Point last Friday.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Their arrival was also precisely timed to the hatching of caterpillars in the oak trees, which in turn were emerging just as buds were opening into luscious new leaves.

The Warbler Tree

Among all the oaks at Halibut Point, on this day, The Warbler Tree seemed to attract the most birds, with favorable over-the-shoulder sunlight and open sight lines for the photographer. All the following species visited the tree on Friday morning.

Yellow Warbler

High up in the canopy warblers darted about refueling after a strenuous night of migration flight. They navigated here unerringly in the protective dark.

Black-and White Warbler

Most of the birds foraged in the oak tree among emergent leaves and flowers. One exception was the Black-and-White Warbler which raced along bark surfaces hunting for insects as though schooled by nuthatches.

American Redstart

The flightiest of all the warblers was the Redstart. It regularly fanned its tail feathers, attempting to startle then snatch bugs from the branches.

Black-throated Green Warbler

As a group the warblers brought a brief tropical flair to Halibut Point. They looked more like equatorial birds summering north than temperate latitude birds wintering south.

Northern Parula

Given favorable winds, most of the warblers seem to stay only a day as they disperse to their up-continent breeding grounds, raise their young, and hurry back to warm climates in the fall.

Cape May Warbler

Every step of the way is keyed to an intricate chain of food sources becoming available on the journey.

Magnolia Warbler

The warbler clan, on the other hand, feeds a banquet of delight to naturalists. The anticipation of their appearance anchors the annual Birdathon that raises funds for Mass Audubon with friendly contestants vying for the greatest number of sightings in 24 hours.

Host to migration

Each of these feathered bundles of astonishment averages less than half an ounce in weight. The Warbler Tree lends its gargantuan growth cycle to sustain their moment of need. The migrants devour most of the insect larvae that are intent on devouring the tree leaves. A portion of everything survives to perpetuate the generations.

 

Buds, Bugs, and Birds

The many interrelationships that connect flora and fauna at Halibut Point begin with the fundamental relationship between the sun and the earth revolving around it, on a tilted axis. From that geometry we arrive at the seasonal awakening of spring. 

In these lengthening days the sun's warmth intersects with last year's solar energy stored in dormant plant cells and insect eggs. Buds and bugs emerge from dormancy together. They are both at succulent stages, intent on benefiting from the organic tissues manufactured by the plant through photosynthesis. This food chain sets the stage for sustaining migratory birds on their way to northern breeding grounds. The timing of all these factors is purposeful, intricate, critical. Its process is as beautiful to our understanding as the individual living elements are to our senses.

The photographs below show intersections of buds, bugs, and birds early in the spring renaissance. The main birding events should be imminent but only briefly observable as tree canopies close in, and the ostentatious activities of courtship realign to prudent secrecies of nesting. Of course many of the eye-catching species will just be  passing through, or so we hope, in eager anticipation that they will once again survive the hazards and demands of migration.

Palm Warbler foraging high in a Red Maple canopy

March Fly on a Lowbush Blueberry flower

White-eyed Vireo hunting insects in a thicket

Lasioglossum bee nectaring on a Woodland Strawberry flower

Baltimore Oriole on the alert for tidbits in the flower tassels of a Black Oak tree

Majesty Crushed

White Fir tree

One of the grand sights at the entrance to Halibut Point State Park has been the White Fir at the edge of the meadow.

White Fir cone

From a distance the tree resembles a Blue Spruce. All firs, however, are distinguished by cones perched like candles upright on the branches, as opposed to pendulous.

The fir beside the barn and the farm house

Until recently the entrance to the Park was graced by a rustic grouping of buildings and trees that pleased the eye of visitors and artists.

Field Sparrow

Bluebird

The tree sheltered birds. Passersby could only guess at dark mysteries within its canopy.

The White Fir stump

In the single most bizarre travesty of the current landscape renovation by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the fir tree was destroyed. Growth rings date it to about the time the Park was dedicated in 1981. The iconic farm house was demolished last year.

Carting away the fir cadaver
David Millen photo

Shredding the tree
David Millen photo

The leafless woods surrounding the meadow at the time of the execution emphasize the somber deed. Note the cluster of trees and shrubs in the vortex of vehicles in this photo. Evidently they displeased the DCR planners as well.

Sharp-shinned Hawk atop the tree

The tallest tree in the group, admittedly dead, served as a perch for many types of birds. It was always a good place for observers to check on the way into the Park.

Indigo Bunting in the former copse

The cherries and honeysuckle shrubs that surrounded the tall tree gave sanctuary to species that gleaned tidbits in the surrounding field.

Only the utility pole still stands

One wonders if these trees and shrubs were disdained in the design inventory as clutter beside the "New England meadow" in the DCR renovation plan. One wonders if they really will let the grass grow to an inviting height for meadow creatures, or whether bug-averse people will prevail on lawn mowing.