Plains Puccoon, impending storm, and Kirtland's Warbler

 

As always, click the photo to enlarge

A storm rolls into the jack pine plains of Oscoda County, Michigan. This is a magical place, with the most famous denizen being the Kirtland's Warbler. While the large pine in the center is a Red Pine (Pinus resinosa), a sprawling stand of young Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) is in the backdrop. I could hear the rich songs of Kirtland's Warblers from this spot.

That's Plains Puccoon (Lithospermum croceum) in the foreground sporting copious yellowish-orange blossoms. The sandy soils support all manner of interesting and often specialized flora. The plains are, essentially, a well-vegetated desert.

A male Kirtland's Warbler strikes a pose on a Jack Pine branch. This bird was in the immediate area where I made the shot above. Extensive stands of Jack Pine, roughly between the ages of 5 and 20 years old, are required for this extreme habitat specialist. Kirtland's Warbler now could be referred to as "conservation-reliant". If people stopped managing the pines (cutting/replanting) for their favored growth stages, the warbler would soon disappear. Wildfires used to create the successional habitat for them, but fire suppression has mostly put an end to natural management. Kudos to the Michigan DNR and the US Fish & Wildlife Service for all of their management efforts.

Over the years and many visits to Kirtland's Warbler country, I have seen them in all their required age classes of pines. Best are the very young stands - about the size of Christmas trees. It's very easy to observe them in such places.

Male Kirtland's Warblers are anything but shrinking violets, and often rather inquisitive. This bird approached us so closely that it got inside the minimum focus range (19 feet) of my big lens. One time, on a solo trip, I was near a singing male and decided to lay down in the mats of Pennsylvania sedge and just soak in the scene. The curious warbler approached to within five feet of me, singing all the while. At that range, I almost needed earplugs! I thought he was going to hop on my leg at one point!

Oscoda County, Michigan, July 9, 2026.