A Pretty Good Warbler Day

 

Yellow Warbler

Two things drive the warblers through Halibut Point in the spring: an irresistible urge to get to their northern nesting grounds, and the availability of the right kind of food.

Magnolia Warbler

Weather has a great effect on the particulars of their trip. I don't know if the birds fret about the weather, but birdwatchers certainly do. None of us wants them to be blown off course.

Common Yellowthroat, female

Unseasonable chills delay the food supply, those tasty morsels that emerge along with tender new foliage. This year as cool windy days dragged on and the tree branches stayed bare and the caterpillars didn't hatch and the birds didn't appear, we fretted.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Then in a warm rainy spell this week the warblers made their entrance. They were propelled by auspicious southerly winds.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

The overcast dulled their lustrous colors, but the birds were fulfilling their migratory destiny and gladdening all who saw them.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Their appearance was brief and extravagant. It reminded me of the reverence that samurais felt for ephemeral cherry blossoms.

American Redstart

The next day, with brilliant sunshine, the warblers were nowhere to be seen.

Common Yellowthroat

A Korean poem came to mind:

Last night's wind spoiled the blossoms of every peach tree in the garden. Is the boy fetching a broom? Does he mean to sweep them up? Fallen flowers, but still they are flowers: what need is there to sweep them up?

 "Echoes from the Land of Morning Calm"